How does a character spring up in the mind of its author? What pushes the latter to make suffer, to put in trouble, even to kill, sometimes, his creation? And once the books are closed, what remains of these paper ghosts?
In this collection of short stories entitled 14 authors face to face with their characterswriter and journalist Sonia Sarfati had the idea of inviting herself into the creation room — reading the mind — of 14 Quebec authors and authors, to better understand the disturbing and eventful relationship that exists between a creator and his creature. .
To do this, she asked each of them to imagine an unprecedented encounter with one of her characters, the time to settle scores, a trial, or perhaps even a new blow. lightning.
“With the pandemic, I found myself, like many people, alone with myself, underlines Sonia Sarfati, seated in a café on the Plateau Mont-Royal. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to rediscover the characters from my children’s books. It’s funny to say, but sometimes I have the impression that they are angry with me for letting them down, as if they were whispering in my ear to resume their story. »
This was without taking into account the total lack of inspiration that the health situation would cause in her. “I was unable to write. I said to myself, wickedly, that I was going to let the others write, she adds with a mischievous air. Haunted by my own heroes, I wondered how other writers approached this relationship. »
Flames
Responded to the call: novelists Raphaëlle B. Adam, Natasha Beaulieu, Roxanne Bouchard, Luc Chartrand, Patrice Godin, Catherine Lafrance, Samuel Larochelle, Annie L’Italien, Stanley Péan, Nathalie Roy, Patrick Senécal and Ghislain Taschereau , cartoonist Boum, and journalist Nathalie Petrowski.
These authors from various backgrounds all have at least one thing in common: they have a relationship with recurring characters that readers will be likely to recognize. “The easiest thing would have been to invite authors and authors of detective novels, since they often write about the same inspector. I rather imagined a more fragmented concept, to decline the theme in different ways. How would someone who gives into fantasy, like Natasha Beaulieu, appropriate the subject? Someone in chick bed, in comics, in horror? »
Beyond the constraint of the encounter, Sonia Sarfati gave carte blanche to her creators regarding the choice of the character and the form of the text. Thus, Raphaëlle B. Adams has instead chosen to cross swords with Riverbrooke, a mirage city to which her collection is entirely devoted. Servitude (Triptych, 2020). Roxanne Bouchard, for her part, interfered in one of the scenes of her latest novel, The Coral Bride (Free Expression, 2020). Patrice Godin, in his meeting with his character of Alexia Tremblay, a former transgender luxury escort, took the opportunity to detail his creative process.
“Ghosts or Mirror”
It is moreover Patrice Godin who, in the first lines of his short story Alexia at night, asks the question that best explains the motivation behind this collective: “You are there, ghosts or mirrors. »
“We discover, on reading, that it’s always a bit of both, underlines Sonia Sarfati. As a reader, we often have the reflex to identify the author with his creations. Personally, I feel like my characters are more ghosts. I hear them in my mind, and they’re the ones calling the shots. But there is always a connection to us, even in the characters who seem to be our opposites. It’s normal, they come from us. »
Through dialogue and confrontations with their characters, the authors offer us a privileged incursion into the heart of their creative process and the struggle with oneself that it requires on a daily basis. “We perceive the doubts and questioning that drive creation. It’s almost like magic, it’s fascinating,” adds the director of the collective.
Despite the fact that the collaborators all evolve in different approaches and genres, their questions overlap in several places. Several of them, for example, begin to reflect on the guilt they feel towards what they have made their characters experience.
In the news RevisionismPatrick Senécal meets Yannick who, in 5150, rue des Ormes (Guy Saint-Jean editor, 1994) finds himself in the psychiatric hospital – castrated moreover – after a stay with a family of psychopaths. Unsatisfied with his fate, Yannick does not show any kindness in seeking redress – just like his creator. Paul Carpentier, a fallen journalist imagined by Luc Chartrand, also dreams of extricating himself from the clutches of his author to regain his freedom. On a few occasions, the characters also demand a more unbridled sex life.
“It reassured me to see that I am not the only one to think that my characters would have something to reproach me for, indicates Sonia Sarfati in a burst of laughter. In children’s literature, the protagonists often change little from one book to another. They are eternal children. That’s why they’re patting me on the head for writing a sequel. »
The writer is so excited about the concept of Face to face that she is already dreaming of a second volume. “I already have several other authors in mind. I cross my fingers that the readers will be there. »
Sonia Sarfati interviews (fictional) journalist Chloé Simmons