“Mesmerizing scenes worthy of a national epic. Its meticulous construction and control contain a breadth of incident and characterization seen only in the most ambitious and imposing novels.” – The Globe & Mail
With more than ten books under his belt — books that showcase an astounding versatility in style and story, from creepy slipstream to innovative literary fiction — Kenneth J. Harvey has become an international icon, and “Canada’s heavyweight champion of brash and beautiful literature.” His signature style, and his graceful-but-gritty delivery has been emulated but unmatched. His career took off from the get go, long before Newfoundland was the country’s literary goldmine and publishers were lining up for a pieces of that gold. His first book, Directions for an Open Body, was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (Canada and Caribean Region). Impressive career highlights: His 2003 release, The Town That Forgot to Breathe, has been published in over a dozen countries. His 2006 mega-hit, Inside, remains the only Canadian-authored book to have won Italy’s prestigious Libro Del Mare Award, and his latest book, not even available in Canada, is currently a Russian bestseller. Kenneth is also the man behind the ReLit awards: the country’s most meaningful literary award.
Blackstrap Hawco, his 2008 release, a work fifteen years in the writing, has been declared the #1 best book out of Canada in 2008 by Amazon.com, it then made Amazon.ca’s top 50 books of the decade. A Giller and IMPAC finalist, and a Globe & Mail and Quill & Quire book of the year, Blackstrap Hawco is an epic, 848-page family saga about Newfoundland’s working class, and spans more than a century.
From Random House’s website: “Named in a moment of anger, Blackstrap Hawco is heir to an island dominion picked over by its adoptive nation … [and] the family legend might be all his people have left to live for. But as Blackstrap Hawco – a novel that will consume you in its dazzling swirl of voices, legends and beautiful hearsay – testifies, a story this haunting, this powerful, might just be enough.”
“ A masterpiece … brutal, poignant, stunning, infuriating, heartbreaking and hopeful, hard to read and harder still to put aside.” – The Chronicle Herald
Blackstrap Hawco also features Kenneth’s own narrative invention, the transcomposite narrative, which transcomposes passages of non-fiction with fiction. It takes the exact wording of newspaper articles, journal entries, or letters written by real people and attributes them to supposedly fictional characters. Kenneth says, “The transcomposite narrative tries to mirror what we actually see in our memories, because what we see in our minds is always a mixture of fact and fiction or history and myth. It is never entirely one or the other.”
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Salty Ink: Blackstrap Hawco has been dubbed your masterpiece, and it is certainly epic in every way: The unique transcomposite narrative, the fact it was fifteen years in the making, the fact Amazon.ca included it as a top 50 books of the decade, or that Amazon.com called it the #1 book out of Canada in 2008. What’s been the biggest thrill for you about Blackstrap Hawco.
Kenneth J. Harvey: The biggest thrill was having legendary editor, Geoff Mulligan publish Blackstrap in the UK under the Harvill Secker imprint at Random House UK. Geoff edits Jose Saramago, J.M. Coetzee, Joseph O’Connor, Louis de Bernieres and other renowned authors. It was an honour to be published by him.
Salty Ink: As a versatile author of more than 10 books spanning many genres and styles of writing, what sets Blackstrap Hawco apart from your other work, in your mind?
Kenneth J. Harvey: The 15 years of torment it caused me.
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