The writer Bill Stenson discusses his new novel Ordinary Strangers (Mother Tongue Publishing, 2018), the winner of the 4th Great BC Novel contest, writing, reading, and more, with Joseph Planta.

Ordinary Strangers by Bill Stenson (Mother Tongue Publishing, 2018). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Ordinary Strangers

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

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

Bill Stenson is the author of a new novel, Ordinary Strangers. It is the winner of the 4th Great BC Novel Contest from Mother Tongue Publishing. The book follows Sage and Della Howard as they drive from Hope to Fernie in August 1971. They lose their dog, and in the search they find a baby in the woods. The story unfolds as the years pass, and the Howards raise Stacey as their own. I’ll get Mr. Stenson, who joins me now to tell us as much as he’d like about his book, and its setting in the interior of the province. It’s an area of the province that he knows well, as Bill Stenson was born in Nelson. He went to a one-room schoolhouse on Thetis Island, and grew up on a small farm in Duncan. He was a teacher of English and creative writing at various Island high schools, the Victoria School of Writing, and the University of Victoria. He co-founded the Claremont Review. He has authored a short story collection, Translating Women, and two novels: Svoboda, and Hanne and Her Brother. He’s written for sundry publications and joined me earlier this month from his home in the Cowichan Valley. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Bill Stenson; Mr. Stenson, good morning.

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