Sarah Leipciger was born and raised in Canada and now lives in London where she teaches creative writing to prisoners. Her short fiction has been short-listed for the Asham Award, the Fish Prize and the Bridport Prize. Her debut novel, The Mountain Can Wait, is out on 7 May 2015.
In partnership with Tinder Press, we were able to offer advance copies of The Mountain Can Wait to 20 reading groups on Reading Groups for Everyone. We also worked with Prison Reading Groups to offer her book to five different prisons across the UK.
Here, we chat to Sarah about her novel, her job teaching writing in prisons and how reading has influenced her life.
What inspired you to write The Mountain Can Wait?
The idea for the book started with Tom Berry, the main character. The first seed of Tom came from a specific memory of a guy I knew: me riding in his car with him and his mom. He said, “I’m never having kids.” To which she replied, “You’re the kid I was never going to have.” It got me thinking: what if a guy like that did have kids? And what if he had to raise them alone? And then I thought: one of them has to make a mistake, a big one.
What interests you the most about your protagonists?
I’m a sucker for the characters of Cormac McCarthy and Annie Proulx, taciturn men who are hard and dusty on the outside but full of passion within. I wanted to explore these elements with Tom. Curtis was a surprise to me – he wears his heart on his sleeve and lacks Tom’s sense of responsibility. As the book progressed, I became more and more interested in the parallel paths of these two men, which both reflect and contrast one another.
At The Reading Agency we aim to support people on their reading journey throughout their lives. Why is reading for pleasure important to you, and how do you choose what to read?
Reading entertains me, it enlightens and enriches me and it makes me feel connected to humanity. I weep at beautiful turns of phrase where you read them and think, “Ah, yes, that’s exactly it!” I love to learn from the masters, and be cowed and wowed and made jealous by my contemporaries.
Sometimes I choose a book because it’s related to what I’m writing at that moment. Other times my choice is driven by mood or the advice of others. I do judge books by their covers. I do read books more than once. And I do give up on a book if I find it boring. Another thing: having a book on your person at all times means you’re never alone.
What do you think are the best ways to encourage people in your community to read?
I recommend books to people all the time, and, if I have said book at home, follow up the recommendation by lending it out (with a no-joke warning that I do want it back). We also have a free library box in our neighbourhood, erected in front of someone’s house. I think these little donate-and-help-yourself libraries are glorious, not just for the love of reading, but for the boosting of community spirit.
We run a programme for emergent adult readers called the Six Book Challenge, which runs extensively in prisons. What do you find most rewarding about leading creative writing workshops in prisons?
It’s an honour to create a positive and constructive space for people whose lives are, while they’re incarcerated, pretty dreary. I think the most rewarding thing is probably the cultivation of a creative environment where the men trust each other and feel safe to talk about their work and their experiences, to export them “out” of prison for the few hours we’re together. They learn to dish out and also receive constructive criticism, which I think spills over as a useful life skill in general.
Do you have any tips for people looking to take up writing for the first time?
Choose something you’re passionate about. Look for interesting characters everywhere – in people you know well and people you interact with even briefly. Don’t be afraid to steal the real life stories you hear or read about – steal them for yourself and transform them into your own creations. Don’t be daunted by the “where do I begin” worries – we all have them when we start new projects, even when we’ve been writing for years.
Even with one word on it, that blank page or blank screen is no longer blank.
Record your dreams; the sub-conscious is a goldmine of ideas.
Read. Read. Read. Never stop reading.
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