The writer Tsering Yangzom Lama discusses her debut novel We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies (McClelland & Stewart, 2022), with Joseph Planta.

We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama (McClelland & Stewart, 2022). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

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

A new book, the debut of writer Tsering Yangzom Lama will be published this week. It’s called We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies. It’s a sweeping novel that brings us the lives of Lhamo and her sister Tenkyi. They traverse the Himalayas as China invades Tibet in 1959. Lhamo is haunted by the loss of her homeland, and her mother, the village oracle. They try to rebuild their life in Nepal, and as the book moves on, we’re taken to Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood years later, as Tenkyi lives with Lhamo’s daughter Dolma. Throughout the book, Tsering, who joins me now examines the connection with home, and how the trauma of its loss can affect future generations. She looks at survival, not who as much as why. I’ll ask her about what it was like to write the book, and how. Tsering Lama was born and raised in Nepal, where her family settled after fleeing Tibet in the early 1960s. She has since lived in Vancouver, Toronto, and New York City. She has a BA in Creative Writing and International Relations from the University of British Columbia, and an MFA from Columbia University. She is a lifelong activist, and serves as a storytelling advisor for Greenpeace International. She will be appearing as part of Incite, put on by our friends at the Vancouver Writers Fest, this Wednesday, 18 May 2022 at 7.00 pm at the Vancouver Public Library’s Central Branch. The event is in person and online. Visit www.writersfest.bc.ca for more information. This new book is published by McClelland & Stewart. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Tsering Yangzom Lama; Ms. Lama, good morning.

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