everyday people

It’s done! The talk at Harvard has been hanging over my head for such a long time and I’m very relieved that it’s finally behind me. To my surprise, I wasn’t nervous at all. It helped that the talk was held in a large classroom; the desks were arranged in a square and my two cousins, Laura and Nathan, sat to my right and our gracious host for the evening (a graduate student and young adult novelist!) sat to my left. We started out with only three other people but finished with about a dozen; my talk was well received and the Q&A sparked an interesting conversation that lasted throughout dinner at the Faculty Club. Apparently the Canada Seminar attracts a mix of professors, students, and community members and last night was no exception. I’d been worried about having to deal with pretentious elites but everyone was down to earth and truly interested in learning about Canada. That’s a rare experience and since it’s hard for me to find an audience in Canada, it was a real treat to have such a frank conversation. The whole trip was memorable—my cousin Laura came all the way from Toronto to hear my talk and hers was the first face I saw when I got off the train in Boston. Her brother Nathan works in Boston and his girlfriend Beth took us to an Italian restaurant for a delicious meal. We finished with gelato and a brief, chilly walking tour that included Paul Revere’s house! My talk was partly about how the failure of the family inspires great writing, but I was *very* grateful for my cousins’ presence this weekend. I also met Linda (below) who said she found my talk inspiring but she impressed me with her determination to study at Harvard! She left her home in Texas to relocate to Massachusetts, and was supposed to go see another campus event with Herbie Hancock but stopped by the Weatherhead Center instead. I didn’t get to see Jamaica Kincaid but I did leave a bundle of books for her. I met an entrepreneur, Dianne, who is a Brooklyn Tech grad—and that’s where I’ll be heading tomorrow for an afternoon school visit. The weather has turned—again—and we’re expecting snow tomorrow. I’ve got papers to grade and one more article to send off, but I’m going to ride this high as long as I can! Thank goodness for everyday people…