Interview: Steven Galloway, On the Line with Joseph Planta (thecommentary.ca)

Steven Galloway

Monday, 16 June 2008

The author Steven Galloway talks to Joseph Planta about his already bestselling and highly acclaimed novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo (Random House, 2008).

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. (Random House, 2008)

Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Cellist of Sarajevo

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Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line. This is THECOMMENTARY.CA.

The author Steven Galloway joins me now. His new book, The Cellist of Sarajevo has just been published, and it has already gotten a great deal of buzz and acclaim. All of the reviews I've seen have been tremendously effusive in their praise. The book has been acquired in 17 territories around the world, and that some Hollywood studios were negotiating for its movie rights.

Between 1992 and 1995, the siege of Sarajevo kills thousands, and it is amidst this that the novel is set. A cellist sits in the hollow where a mortar struck and for the next twenty-two days, he sits playing Albinoni's Adagio for each of the twenty-two victims. The cellist underscores and touches the lives of three people who find themselves in the war zone. Kenan must walk through the streets, from one end to another to collect water for his family. Dragan, another man, finds himself trying to find food. Both are fearful, not knowing where the next shot will land. Arrow, a third character, is a female sniper. Her task is to protect the cellist as he carries out his daily tribute. The three characters never meet but are all connected by the haunting music as played by the cellist, not to mention the war that they're living amidst.

Steven Galloway joins me from Toronto this morning. He teaches creative writing at UBC and SFU. The Cellist of Sarajevo, $29.95, published by Random House is his third novel. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Steven Galloway; Good morning, Mr. Galloway.