*44/ 114 Interview with

Craig Walker

DANIEL DAVID A strong infuence? A friend noticed a quote from Shake- ould you describe the circumstances speare somewhere in Almighty Voice and His Wife. And I do under which you wrote “Still Septem- keep going to productions of Chekhov &didn’t he insist ber?” they were comedies?& even though until recently Ca- C nadian productions usually made them sombre. Tough DANIEL DAVID her own plays weren’t as interesting, Gwendolyn MacEw- I had agreed with folks at the NAC to contrib- en’s poetry stays with me. And I still remember a student ute to educational materials about indigenous production of Endgame I saw in the Burton Auditorium at culture they were compiling by writing an York as an undergrad. It was clown-ish in a good way. essay about the characteristics of indigenous theatre. Ten my father died and I no longer Q: I think of you as a person who feels a strong responsi- felt I could write any essay. I asked, consider- bility to community, including naturally, to the Indigenous ing the situation, if I could contribute a short community. Do you think that such a sense of responsibil- play and they agreed. Specifc details from ity is an asset or a burden to a creative writer? my and my family’s experience of my father’s passing came together for me. DANIEL DAVID An asset. Where else do you fnd enough stories? Once Q: You are probably as well known in Canada you as an artist have matured sufciently to express your as a poet as you are as a playwright: can you own self, the story of that self really can(t support a conti- explain how you decide whether a particular nuing interest&that(s my perception of my self, of cour- subject, such as this one, is beter suited to a se& unless it(s considered in the context of or in confict poetic or a dramatic treatment? with a community. Tat confict can be as intriguing as any harmony you might fnd by articulating the community(s DANIEL DAVID expectations. Somewhere in between a truth will eventual- It seems to me I’ve tended to use poetry for ly come out. the expression of the personal, the lyrical, the philosophical parts of my experience, and to Q: One of the most notable features of your writing is the use theatre for the social, the quizzical, the way in which quiet moments or seemingly simple images ceremonial. Because I’ve used the forms side- carry a much larger and more complex freight of meaning. by-side all my adult life and because they af- For example, in “Still September,” for me, ’s comment fect each other, though, I don’t claim I decide. that, had her husband spent time in jail, he might have been I just do what feels right. beter prepared for the nursing home, was deeply afecting and carried far-reaching implications about the efects of Q: Who were some of the writers who had colonialism. A moment like that strikes immediately to the a strong infuence on your development as a heart, but for me it had a sort of barb that caused it to linger playwright? and spread in my imagination. And I wonder: is that as- pect of your writing a conscious process of building an idea into your writing, or is it even for you a sort of surprising *44/ discovery that arrives to consciousness out of your imagi- 115 nation? Or is it capitalism, the way in this example the care of the elderly has become the duty of nurses, doctors and underpaid orderlies so that those of us who work for our monies don(t take time of to live and experience and value our human embraces as much or more?

DANIEL DAVID Tis particular moment, this idea, is something my mother actually said afer a visit to my dad in the old folk(s home. He was sad there. And it was, since then, part of my thin- king and planning so that our family managed to keep my mother in her own house right to the end. Her long ago remark, as I indicated above, came back to me and found a place in the piece as I put it together. Te situation or the storytelling impulse builds the idea into Interview with Daniel David Moses consciousness.

Tank you