Emotional Landscapes

Although I now live in Victoria, I still write stories about the prairies, where I made my home for forty-five years. Recently I flew to Saskatchewan for a writing retreat.

            I was surprised by emotion as the plane began its long descent into Saskatoon and the features of the prairie landscape became clearly defined. Countless sloughs shining like irregularly shaped buttons. A patchwork quilt of tawny-brown or grey-green fields. The long blue ribbon of the North Saskatchewan snaking out of sight in both directions. Excitement bubbled up uncontrollably as I pressed my nose to the plane window. This landscape is my emotional home!

            My character, Dodie, felt the same emotional connection to the open spaces and immense sky. Raised in a large, smog-filled city in Victorian England, Dodie felt the same joy fill her spirit when she stepped from the train onto the expansive prairie of 1903. We all have a landscape where we feel embraced and we recognize this emotional fit, from the first time our senses experience it.

            To understand the pull of the prairies read my children's novels, Full Steam to Canada and Through Flood and Fire, published by Coteau Books.

Anne Patton is a Victoria BC based writer.  She can be reached here