Mavis Gallant on her work

Mavis Gallant on her work
« I wanted to live in Paris, I wanted to write fiction. And I wanted to live on it and in it »

This volume offers the transcript of interviews carried out with Mavis Gallant by Ch. Bertail and Ch. Evain in Paris in the winter and spring of 2007. These interviews cover questions related to the circumstances, the progression and the process of Mavis Gallant's writing, focusing on the 52 stories contained in the Canadian volume entitled Selected Stories. The chapter divisions reflect both the step-by-step process of covering one story at a time as well as the themes and literary references that Mavis Gallant chose to dwell on. Special attention is given to the so-called interconnected stories, including the Henri Grippes and the Linnet series. Mavis Gallant's comments on the genesis of each story inevitably led to broader considerations on the subject of the creative process, raw material, fiction, and reality. Because these comments come in response to questions on her work, they allow a glimpse of the construction of the stories while giving us insight into the writer's craft.

The second part of this volume includes the summaries of Gallant's two novels and of the short stories in the Selected Stories. The purpose of these summaries is to guide the reader through the conversations with Mavis Gallant and also to provide useful references to all students and academics wishing to embark on a critical analysis of Mavis Gallant's work.