The only advice I give is that the book in your mind, the book that you intend to write, is always much, much better than the book you write.Īs soon as you start putting it down in words, it's imperfect. Every now and then, younger writers ask me about writer's block and how to to avoid it. I certainly don't dwell on what I've written. As a travel writer, you always look at the next destination. I'm always thinking about the current project - and the next project. The satirical novel Generica (now titled Happiness) came out way back in 2001. Do you look back at your old work in terms of what you could have done differently or done better? And it just goes out there into the world.ĭuration 1:33 Calgary humourist Will Ferguson's foray into dramatic writing for his novel 419 has been rewarded with the 2012 Giller Prize, in a year when a handful of lesser known Canadian writers dominated the contenders. It's wonderful to be nominated because writing a book is like throwing a message in a bottle and you don't know who is reading it. Writing a book is like throwing a message in a bottle and you don't know who is reading it. I think you just write without thinking about that. There is always an element of a crapshoot in any award. I've been once or twice on juries and I know how crazy and chaotic it is. I don't think it bears on your writing or your approach - you certainly don't write toward an award. But I think you write what you want to write and the awards follow or they don't. You've won a Giller Prize and a host of other literary awards. The Finder won the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Award for best novel.įerguson spoke with CBC Books about his writing life and career. The story takes readers to Japan, Australia and New Zealand as Interpol agent Gaddy Rhodes, photographer Tamsin Greene and travel writer Thomas Rafferty unexpectedly cross paths as they track 'The Finder' - a mysterious figure who believes they can find history's lost objects, such as the missing Romanov Fabergé eggs and Muhammad Ali's Olympic gold medal.

He has won the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour three times: for his novel Generica (now titled Happiness), his Canadian travel book Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw and his travel memoir Beyond Belfast.įerguson's latest is The Finder, an adventure novel about finding things that are lost in the world. The Calgary-based writer won the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize for his thriller 419. Will Ferguson has written humour, travel books and fiction.

How to Be a Canadian by Will Ferguson