Joshua StorieWith the remnants of his past year packed away in boxes, Fred Stenson rode out his remaining days as the University of Alberta’s writer-in-residence in a nearly empty office.
During the 2015-16 academic year, small-town Alberta historical fiction author Fred Stenson continued the U of A’s 40-year old writer-in-residence program. The program brings a Canadian author into the university community to pursue writing projects, converse with students and faculty, as well as to give readings and presentations about writing.
Stenson began his career writing humorous fiction, but soon tired of his work and decided to explore historical fiction. Since publishing his first novel Lonesome Hero at age 22, he’s written a historical fiction trilogy that includes three-time award-winning novel The Trade, which follows the 19th century fur trade. Stenson has also written numerous nonfiction works including Thing Feigned or Imagined, a guide to writing fiction.
Leaning back in his chair with a grin on his face and his hands nestled in his front pockets, Stenson reminisced about his time at the U of A. He cherished his interactions with students the most, having offered to share his wisdom with many young writing prospects. Stenson sympathizes with students’ feelings of being overwhelmed. Even though he enjoys visiting with students, he knows that while some seek help during office hours, others retreat in fear of more work and unwanted feedback.
“I’m a social human being in a pretty unsocial job,” he said. “There’s something restorative to meeting every day with people who are keen enough about their writing and . . . they’re actually coming in search of some new insight into their work. If you don’t spend enough time around other writers, you get pretty insular.”
One of Stenson’s greatest worries about writing historical fiction was how historians and academics would respond to his work. But many historians approve of Stenson’s storytelling, and some said they would write similar works if they had the ability. Stenson’s fiction is even taught in Canadian history classes.
Stenson has received numerous awards throughout his 42-year career as a published author. His novel The Trade won the Writers’ Guild of Alberta’s George Bugnet Novel Award, the City of Edmonton Book Prize, the Grant MacEwan Author’s prize, and earned a nomination for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2000. Excitement surrounding the Giller Prize helped Stenson’s career substantially. The award made front page news all across the country, he said.
“It’s weird to spend 25 years being a writer and realize that nobody’s really noticed,” Stenson said. “All of a sudden, a lot of opportunities came my way that hadn’t before.”
The best advice Stenson ever received about the writing process came from his friend: write against the grain rather than do what is easy. Stenson took his advice and experimented with all types of writing, from magazine articles to film screenplays. Stenson discussed topics including medicine, history and education, and each topic ended up influencing his fiction.
Stenson encourages aspiring writers to read to improve their writing — reading enables a kind of subconscious learning, he said.
“Students probably feel like they read constantly and couldn’t possibly read more or don’t want to read more, but I think to maintain the habit of reading is really ultra important,” Stenson said. “It never ceases to be valuable.”
Especially for those who are just starting their writing careers, reading widely and experimenting with writing against the grain can help uncover different ways of storytelling and thinking.
“I’m 65, I’m no kid,” Stenson said. “Yet I still feel like I’m in the process of education. I’m still learning how to write from reading of all sorts of people.”
For the rest of the summer, Stenson plans on finishing up a short work of humorous fiction that he started during his residency at the U of A.
