Margaret Laurence: the Making of a Writer © 2005 Donez Xiques Site Design: Ian Bryson |
By Donez Xiques Margaret Laurence: the Making of a Writer
breaks new ground by offering a portrait of the younger Margaret Laurence,
one that is unfamiliar to most of her readers. It dispels the myth that
success came early and easily to Laurence. Because this biography unfolds
as much as possible from the perspective of Margaret Laurence, rather
than looking back after she had become famous, it enables readers to
follow more closely in Laurence’s own footsteps. Xiques offers
a much richer picture of Laurence’s apprenticeship than has been
previously available and shows that the path to Laurence’s later
success began with uncertain steps and many false starts. Xiques discovered new material in the files of Laurence’s literary
agent, and of her British publisher. All of the factual information in
Margaret Laurence: the Making of a Writer is based on research, on
evidence found in contemporary accounts, newspapers, diaries, high
school and college publications, personal interviews, and hundreds of
letters.
Margaret Laurence: the Making of a Writer points out the significance of
young Laurence’s work as a journalist, and the impact of her seven year
sojourn in Africa, where she lived with her husband, a civil engineer.
In the Horn of Africa, living among Muslims, Margaret Laurence began to
read the Koran and to study Somali culture. Her fascination with their
oral literature led to her first book, a translation of Somali tales and
poems. Later in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), Margaret Laurence continued
to work on a novel and a number of short stories. The professional and
personal challenges of adapting to life in West Africa and of trying to
hone her literary gifts are vividly described here. |
