JAMES STRECKER: Please tell us what you want the public to know about your new book. For instance, what exactly is it and why does it exist?
SHEILA MURRAY: Finding Edward is a book about two mixed-race men, one born in the 1920s, the other in 1990s. Cyril, the novel’s central character, was born in Jamaica. His coming of age is guided by his search for the story of the much older man who was born in Toronto. Edward’s history and his resilience become an inspiration for the younger man who is struggling to grasp his own potential.
At the same time, the book asks, “Why is white Canadian history written, and celebrated, when what Blacks have accomplished is dismissed, or hidden from public view? The Tulsa race massacre in the USA took place in 1921, around the same time that my character, Edward, was born. That massacre of Black American professionals, and the destruction of their achievements, was hidden for decades.
JS: Please give us a brief autobiography, some stuff about yourself that is relevant to this book.
SM: My mother was English and white, my father was Black Jamaican, and I was born and raised in England. My starting point with the book was to explore what it is to be mixed race, and the tensions that affect those of us who are racialized by the cultures we’re raised in. We should be able to claim our place as equally rooted in both colours, but that’s impossible in today’s world. We don’t get to choose our ‘racial’ identity. If we are darker skinned, rather than lighter, then Canadian and American cultures identify us as ’Black.’ I identify as Black when there is not an optional mixed-race box to check. Racialized people experience a litany of disadvantages in Canada and the USA. An obvious response to all of this, is that everyone should be treated equally— but this is patently not the case.
JS: In what ways was this book fairly easy to do and in what ways was it difficult to realize? How long did it take and why that long?
SM: If I were to start writing the novel today, it would be a different story, at least for Cyril. I started writing Finding Edward in 2012. Since then, a new race-consciousness has surfaced in mainstream culture. My book’s central character, Cyril, arrived in what Canada considered its ‘multicultural’ heyday — before Black Lives Matter fiercely challenged the status quo, and prevailed. Trayvon Martin was murdered in Florida in 2012 and his killer acquitted in 2014. Michael Eligon was shot by Toronto police in 2012, and his killer cleared of responsibility a month later. By 2016, Black Lives Matters was established in Canada. In 2017, Colin Kaepernick knelt for the American national anthem, and I suspect that a whole lot of people saw for the first time that something was very wrong in their liberal, democratic worlds. Not only in the USA, but also in Canada. Had Cyril arrived in Toronto after Black Lives Matter was established, his trajectory might have been different. His personal experiences reflect the widespread ambiguities of 2012. Although many of those ambiguities still exist in the mainstream, Edward, whose mystery drives the novel’s plot, would have been astonished by the power of the Black Lives Matter movement.
I did have several occasions to rewrite the novel after the initial draft, but it wasn’t until my editor, Marc Cote, acquired it that it grew into its true life. Marc wanted to publish, and said that the structure was basically working, but the story needed more: more history, more scenes with the minor characters, more Edward. Those notes pushed me to go much deeper into Cyril and Edward. By the finish, I knew them so well that I felt I could stand in a room with them.
JS: How did doing this book change you as a person – and as a creator?
SM: As I said earlier, I began the book as an exploration of my own mixed-race identity. Part of that exercise was having my DNA analyzed, which was amazing. My ancestry turned out to span most of the globe. I am not a mix of two, but a wide mix of a great many. And that somehow supports the validity of my novel’s central question, which is, “What does it mean to be a Racialized Person in a society whose mainstream culture identifies as white? Especially for people of mixed, or in my case, multiple races?”
As a creator and first-time novelist, the tremendous response to the book has given me confidence as a writer. I know that I’ve achieved what I set out to do—and more. I want my next book to be equally challenging, and believe now that I have the skill and assurance to do it. (And, of course, hope that it will be equally well received!) Finding Edward has been a great learning experience, and the best part is knowing how well people enjoy the characters and the story.
JS: What kind of audience will this project interest? What new audience are you also seeking? Why to both questions?
SM: Just a few weeks since its publication, I have a different answer to that question than I would have had before.
I hoped that Finding Edward would attract readers who are interested in the novel’s central issues—that the same prejudices and bigotry existed in 2012 as they did all through the history of Blacks in Canada. So, most achievements, hard-fought triumphs, were, and still are ignored, unheralded, and certainly not mainstream in our Canadian cultural narrative. More generally, I anticipated that the story would be of interest to readers of literary fiction whose values are rooted in social justice—regardless of how they identity.
But I’ve been wonderfully surprised by beautiful responses to the story from ‘old, straight, white men,’ who have found many points of true engagement, particularly with the life of the older character, Edward. But also, with the much younger, Cyril. They have been very moved by their stories. Neither of my characters is exceptional. But their lives are rich, and they clearly connect with a wide variety of readers.
I would also love to think that Finding Edward will interest young people. It is a coming-of-age story— a period over a year in 2012 where Cyril, age 20, figures out who he is and how he belongs. That’s every young person’s challenge. Young people will shape Canada’s future, and they should know our Black history. I particularly hope that young, Black, readers will find the book. I want them to know that Blacks have been in Canada for a very long time, and their successes have helped shape this country — something that’s rarely acknowledged. And I want young, mixed-race folk, to own both sides of their heritage.
JS: What might others not understand or appreciate about your book?
SM: That’s an interesting question. At the moment, in the early days of publication, my feeling is that the characters now belong to their readers. They’re not mine to defend, or champion, or to worry about. It’s not for me to say what’s been misunderstood, or under-appreciated. But if I’ve done my job well, readers will care about the characters, and, as they read, will come to understand how systemic racism operates, and how it has shaped Canada.
JS: What are the most important parts of yourself that you put into your work?
SM: I tried to put my emotional self-knowledge into the writing. I want readers to feel what I felt for Cyril and for Edward. A strong sense of fear, trepidation, shyness, lack of confidence, embarrassment, shame, loneliness —equally tempered with pride, courage, certainty, daring, fellowship and self-assurance.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
SM: I have been in creative sectors all of my working life. But despite always giving a project my all, I have never identified as a ‘filmmaker’ or ‘sound designer’ or ‘journalist,’ or ‘fiction writer’. I’m going to change that. Finding Edward has had such a wonderful response, that now, instead of saying, “I will probably write another novel,” I can say that I will definitely write another. And because I’ve reached an age where there is less future than past, I will start it as soon as I can!
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life that brought you to the creation of this work.
SM: It is, perhaps, recognizing in my early 40s that my life had moved along a rather unconventional trajectory. That was a time when I needed to know more about myself and the reason for my decisions. For instance, why had I not pursued a more traditional career path or family life.
JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about your life as a person in the arts?
SM: My life has been only incidentally in the arts, although I worked in the film world in different capacities for many years. Indeed, my first film, made in the early 1980s started as a documentary, morphed into a drama and included about six musical numbers. Canada’s first docu-drama-musical! Although it found some success, it was gruelling and my co-producer and I were broke. I had to make a living, and fast, which led me to sound editing. Outsiders may find it difficult to understand that people in the arts work very hard, often over long hours and weekends, and are generally poorly paid. I now work in the non-profit sector which has some similar characteristics!
JS: Please tell us what you haven’t attempted as yet that you would like to do in the arts
SM: When I was a teenager in England my favourite times in high school were spent in the art rooms, where a handful of us passed long days with excellent teachers. Had I stayed in England, and my studies not been interrupted by our family’s move to Toronto, I’m pretty sure I’d have gone on to art school, as my friends did. I enjoy painting and drawing now, though I’m sure that I will never make things to show or to sell!
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?
SM: From my now outsider view, film and television seem to be thriving. I don’t know if it’s any easier, or harder to raise the money to create programming. What’s very different from my time—and I imagine this is true across the arts—is the competition. It’s so much harder to enter those fields, or to get into the universities or schools that credential the artists. The increased competition may simply be because our populations are much bigger — so many more people want in. On the other hand, it may be that more people can explore, develop and showcase their creative work through social media and other online venues. I am woefully absent from these, so really don’t know how well they work for artists generally.
Similarly, I don’t know enough about the writing world to comment, although I’m pretty sure that large publishing houses are less invested in nurturing writers than in making money.
JS: What exactly do you like about the work you create?
SM: Finding Edward is my first novel, but I’ve written and published a fair bit of short fiction. I start with very little, a sentence overheard on the street, or an image, a face, an expression. Once I have that spark, I start writing, and as I write, discover what it is I am trying to say, what’s been on my mind. It’s a wonderful experience. So, what I like best is the act of creating. Once that’s done, and the work exists—featuring people with names and purpose—it is pure pleasure to have a reader share what they found in the work.
JS: What exactly has the impact of the COVID pandemic been on your creative work and your life in the arts?
SM: As a writer, COVID has had very little impact on me. Although I can certainly say that it was truly great to be able to have an in-person book launch. That probably wouldn’t have happened had it been released any sooner!
JS: How has the pandemic changed you as a person?
SM: I don’t think it has, though I very much look forward to when we can look back at this time with objectivity. I hope it happens — that the pandemic really will end. Then I’ll know better how it’s changed not just me, but so many of us. I do think that there is a lot more anger, frustration and division than I’ve seen ever before.
JS: What’s next in the coming few years of your creative life?
SM: Another novel. And to start writing as soon as I can, but certainly in 2022!