Lawrence Hill and Clara Hughes on storytelling, refugeeism, and mental illness
The Canada Reads 2016 competition is over, and Lawrence Hill’s The Illegal has been crowned the champion. The novel depicts the young Keita Ali travelling between the island countries of Zantoroland and Freedom State. Like all young Zantorolanders, Keita dreams of freedom—running away, however, is the only way to get it. Running from genocide in his homeland, Keita travels illegally to the Freedom State and lives under the radar, fearing deportation, surfacing only to race marathons for the prize money. But the consequences of his actions are fierce—now Keita fears for more than his life. The novel is a compelling story about running and refugeeism that helps us understand the current global refugee crisis.
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…shows readers the struggle of being a refugee…[/pullquote]
Having begun in 2002, the Canada Reads competition consists of five Canadian public figures that select the novel they think Canadians should read, and then defend their chosen novel through four days of televised debate. Each day one novel is eliminated by means of a panel vote until only the winner remains. The program airs on CBC Radio One in English and on the Première Chaîne of Radio Canada in French.
This year’s competition was moderated by Gill Deacon, and the theme was “Starting Over.”
The other contenders included former pro wrestler Adam Copeland defending Michael Winter’s Minister Without Portfolio, famous entrepreneur Bruce Poon Tip defending Birdie by Tracey Lindberg, writer and actor Vinay Virmani defending The Hero’s Walk by Anita Rau Badami, as well as journalist and activist Farah Mohamed defending Bone and Bread by Saleema Nawaz.
This is Hill’s second win after the explosive popularity of The Book of Negroes in 2009. That novel’s francophone version, Aminata, also won, creating a historic double-victory that same year.
In their interview with CBC radio host Shad, Hill and Hughes championed storytelling as a vehicle for creating empathy. Hill compared it to religion, in that we find solace in reading.
“Literature and religion serve a similar purpose in that they give us a framework for understanding life,” said Hill. “When we suffer, especially, we look to story to understand who we are and where we’ve been and where we’re going.”
More specifically, The Illegal shows readers the struggle of being a refugee, and the social and economic strains those conditions put on a person.
“The Illegal asks Canadians to imagine the humanity of one refugee, and thus all refugees,” said Hughes in her final defence of the novel.
“One thing I learned in writing The Book of Negroes is it’s really hard for a person, any person, to visualize the life and the hands and the skills and the loves of a person who is suffering tremendously… we tend to think of victims. It’s hard for us to imagine them as our brothers and sisters,” said Hill in the interview with Shad. “The one thing an artist can bring to this discussion is animate our imagination and our empathy.”
The emphasis was indeed empathy rather than victimization, and that was how Hill and Hughes made a personal connection while participating in the competition.
“We connect […] on the deepest level with mental health. We both have very deep connections, and I’ve learned the story of Lawrence’s beautiful late sister, and her struggles in her life with bipolar disorder, and just the champion that she was as a human being,” said Hughes.
Hughes herself went public with her struggle with depression as an Olympic athlete, and has partnered with organizations like #BellLetsTalk in order to raise awareness about mental health.
“I’d like to find more ways to talk [about mental health] from the standpoint of a person who’s watched family members suffer for decades with mental illness,” said Hill.
Hill will be joining the U of G faculty of English as a professor of creative writing this fall.