Literary Birthday – 19 January – Eden Robinson

Happy Birthday, Eden Robinson, born 19 January 1968.

Quotes

Once your writing is out there, you can’t control how other people perceive it. All you can do is stand in your truth.
I was born on the same day as Edgar Allan Poe and Dolly Parton: January 19. I am absolutely certain that this affects my writing in some way.
I think the best advice I got was to not worry about what other people would think while you were working on your first draft. Focus on getting it out of your head. You can always edit the manuscript later.
If I gave up writing, I’d have to find an equally obsessive way to fill my time. Yarn-bombing skyscrapers or making houses out of empty soda bottles.
My family is filled with wonderful storytellers. I lack their gift of gab, so it’s a relief to be able to write.
I like setting my own hours. I like the flexibility of the writing life–I don’t need to take time off to go to the dentist or doctor. That said, whatever I’m working on is always on in the background. I’m obsessed with it and have a hard time grounding myself in the present.
If you’re beating yourself up for not getting everything right in your first manuscripts, learn to be gentle. Your creative energy is sacred. I’ve seen a lot of promising writers stomp their creative seedlings because they weren’t giant cedars the second they pushed out of the ground.

Eden Robinson is an award-winning Canadian author of novels and short stories. She is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nation. She has received numerous awards, including the 2016 Writers’ Trust Engel/Findley Award. Her novel, Son of a Trickster, was shortlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize.