The writer and teacher Betsy Warland discusses her book Bloodroot: Tracing the Untelling of Motherloss (Inanna Publications, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

Bloodroot: Tracing the Untelling of Motherloss by Betsy Warland (Inanna Publications, 2021). Click to buy this book from Inanna Publications: Bloodroot

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Betsy Warland joins me again. Twenty-one years ago she published a groundbreaking book, Bloodroot: Tracing the Untelling of Motherloss. It is a book that is riveting and has resonated with readers not just when it was published but all these years later. So much so the book has been reissued, and this new edition has a terrific foreword by Susan Olding, and an essay by Betsy reflecting on the book, its publication, her memory and more. We’ll talk about that and more. At the heart of the book is Betsy’s relationship with family members, her mother in particular, and how that has shaped aspects of her life. There’s a lot that’s said, and just as much unsaid. What we have here is prose, prose poems, poetry, memoir, and blank spaces. It’s as much a reflective book for the reader as much as it’s been for its writer. The book has defied definition as Warland has been hailed as a trailblazer in creating works that are not just in one genre. This point is underscored by the recent establishment of the Vancouver Manuscript Intensive Betsy Warland Between Genre Award. Its intent is to honour books that disrupt convention, as Betsy’s fourteen other books have. The prize was handed out recently at the Vancouver Writers Fest, with Wayde Compton as its judge and Betsy in attendance. The inaugural recipient is Jordan Abel for his book Nishga. I’ll ask Betsy about this prize in her honour, as well as Bloodroot, and how she’s reflected on family, memory, duty, aging, truth, imagination then, and twenty-one years later. Visit Betsy’s website at www.betsywarland.com. This new edition is published by Inanna Publications. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Betsy Warland; Ms. Warland, good morning.

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