JAMES STRECKER: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on or have recently completed. Why exactly do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?
LIBBY DAVIES: I can’t quite believe I have completed a Political Memoir and it’s out there. It’s been a new and fascinating experience for me. I always loved writing from an early age and, although politics and political office has taken up most of my life, whenever I could put pen to paper, even for short articles, I found it energizing and a wondrous kind of process.
I feel that my memoir “Outside In” is a story and I hope it’s read that way – a story about how change happens; about characters and times gone by and times to come; about why it matters to all of us to be engaged with what’s happening around us and not let ourselves be counted out.
JS: How did doing these projects change you as a person and as a creator?
LD: I’ve been an activist since I was 19 and in elected office 31 years both locally and nationally. It always felt like life was rushing by at a million miles an hour – and I barely had time to stop and think. Writing a book has given me space and time to think and ruminate and look back and forward, so much so that it felt like a luxury and in many ways, it calmed me down. The process of writing, re-writing, considering, researching, and re-writing some more is an adventure of sorts because you don’t exactly know where you will go or where you will end up. It’s made me happy to follow this slightly crooked path and not always know what’s around the corner.
JS: What might others not understand or appreciate about the work you produce or do?
LD: People who know me politically or personally might be surprised I pulled it off. I said in 2016 I’m going to write about transformative change; I’m going to write about activism and the more formal world of politics and why there needs to be a better connection between the two (and why isn’t there a better connection); I’m going to write about a life of working on difficult and non-mainstream issues like sex worker rights and ending drug prohibition and homelessness and how we bring about change. No one deterred me and in fact people encouraged me – but I think there was also some scepticism that I would actually do it and produce something from it. Sometimes people looked surprised when I said I really love to write. They saw it as a chore and as something to get through – but I saw it as the freedom of an open door.
JS: What are the most important parts of yourself that you put into your work?
LD: We all have our stories and they matter to ourselves and those around us and often to the bigger world. Learning to be honest about the elements of your story is a complex thing. It’s not like you have to share every gruesome or gritty detail – so there is a process to be worked through involving honesty and discipline to sort out the elements of the story that fit together. You have to give of yourself and be willing to let yourself feel vulnerable. I’ve been in the public sphere for 40 plus years, so that’s not new to me, but somehow setting words down – committing to the story, in writing, and the ups and downs of personal experience made me feel more vulnerable. Maybe it’s actually understanding that it’s out there now, on paper for all who care to see. That makes the difference. I can’t revise it now.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
LD: I like free flow, but there is that major element – the editing process. This was a challenge for me and I was fortunate to have the help of a skillful and perceptive editor who helped me through this part of the creative process.
JS: Imagine that you are meeting two or three people, living or dead, whom you admire because of their work in your form of artistic expression. What would you say to them and what would they say to you?
LD: Michelle Obama – Your book is amazing and it teaches us so much about the struggles and successes of life. How long do you think it will take to recover from the hateful political path that followed after your husband left office?
Reply: It’s already happening. New leadership is emerging, especially amongst new racialized young women. It will take as long as enough ordinary and progressive people jump on board and say “I’m getting involved.”
Leo Tolstoy – You were an aristocrat and writer who rejected aristocratic life because you believed in the hard work of peasants who worked the land. Is peaceful revolution possible?
Reply: Most things don’t happen the way we think they should. It’s the process of change that really matters. The means don’t justify the end. And sometimes the end isn’t the end, it’s only a trial.
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life that helped to make you who you are as a creative artist.
LD: I read War and Peace and Anna Karenina by Tolstoy when I was in my very early teens. After that I couldn’t stop reading the great Russian novels and not be embedded with a sense that writing could change the way people think and act. The creativity of writing and bold ideas carried through to my political work
JS: Please tell us what you haven’t attempted as yet that you would like to do in the arts? Why the delay so far?
LD: I’d like to write fiction. I have half-finished stories and bits and pieces lying around in folders, scribbles here and there. I aim to gather up the pieces and see what’s there and embark on another project and see where it takes me. Running in 15 different elections kept me occupied but it’s not too late, I hope.
JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?
LD: There’s a common perception in our society that we subsidize the arts (through public and private grants and support) but I always have thought that it’s really the other way around – artists subsidize society in so many ways. Financially, personally, through their work and effort and as such, society is indebted to the artistic community for what it gives us so generously.
We all have artistic potential. But, of course, some people are exceptional in their talent and perception. They give us an understanding of the world around us and challenge us in our mediocre views. Creativity and art need to be nourished and treasured because we all benefit. It is very depressing that too many artists struggle to make ends meet and don’t get the recognition they are due.
JS: What exactly do you like about the work you create and/or do?
LD: Imagination is a wonderful quality and I treasure it. When I can combine imagination with life experience and my political beliefs and set it down in writing, I feel that I can contribute. A bold imagination is also an essential quality for the world of politics and for change to happen. Imagination is the art of the possible and the process of making people believe they have the power to make a better world based on the common good for people and making sure our planet is healthy and sustainable.
JS: In your creative life thus far, what have been the most helpful comments you have heard about your work?
LD: I’ve just finished the first leg of a book tour. It has been so wonderful to hear feedback from people about “Outside In”. I’ve been most happy to hear people say that the book gave them a renewed sense of hope about change for a better world where people are engaged and not cynical.
JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising things about you?
LD: I’ve always been politically active and I’ve spent my life in politics – yet here at age 66, I can find new doors opening, to, I hope, write about what matters.