Author, poet and musician Catherine McNeil has been incorporating songs and music into her writing ever since she began the craft more than 30 years ago.
McNeil recently released the book Emily & Elspeth to the world, which she describes as, "a weird and wonderful, anything but typical, queer love story." She will be reading and performing at Powell River Public Library on Saturday, June 22.
McNeil said her newest book of poems, although not directly about her life, includes characters and setting inspired by her inner struggles, misadventures, art, desire and living as a queer woman.
"The book is poetry and songwriting, and has nonfiction and fiction elements as well," said McNeil. "I have taken lines from the book generally and written songs on the button accordion. I also have a couple of songs I wrote when I was on Hardy Island and in Mexico, so they're also related to the book."
McNeil, who also plays guitar during her performances, said she spent time on Hardy Island when she was younger. The small island is now a provincial marine park that lies across Malaspina Straight from Saltery Bay.
"I lived on Hardy Island for a couple of years when the weather was nice," chuckled McNeil. "My partner had a place there so I spent time in Powell River as well."
She also remembers visiting her uncle, who was a pilot and lived in the qathet region.
Emily and Elspeth are kind of based on me and my ex-partner," said McNeil. "Emily is a poet and songwriter and Elspeth is a novelist, so the voices in the book are different."
McNeil said the locations in the story are places where she has spent time, including Mexico, Hardy Island and Vancouver.
"The book is poetry with a narrative running through them, "added McNeil. "The story is loosely based on our [she and her ex-partner’s] experience, but it's more a character profile of these two women."
McNeil said she has fibromyalgia, which causes pain in the muscles and joints throughout a person's body, and causes fatigue.
"I've had to learn how to pace myself and live in a body that's not always feeling well," said McNeil.
She spent time in her 30s taking writing classes from Kootenay School of Writing, which was a language-based experimental school. Then she went on to take creative writing at University of British Columbia, which she said was a more traditional way to learn.
"I always wanted to be a writer and when I recognized I was a lesbian at the age of 17, I started writing with a purple pen in a journal."
McNeil became a public school teacher but when she lost her voice and had an operation on her throat, she trained to become a teacher of the deaf. She said it wasn't until she returned from a trip to Mexico City that she started to openly embrace her sexuality.
"When I came back from there, I thought it was time to be who I am," said McNeil. "I came out and I also got sober."
She said that's when her life trajectory took a turn for the better.
"I am a copious note-taker and I'm always looking for things to write about; I like to play with words," said McNeil. "I started finding playing guitar kind of boring so then I picked up the banjo and the mandolin, accordion and harmonica."
As for her performance at the library, she said folks can expect laughter, toe tapping and inspiration.
According to the book synopsis: "Through poems that flirt with the intersections of desire, art and commitment, McNeil pieces together Emily and Elspeth’s relationship as playfully as she takes it apart."
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