Anna Elgie’s Writing Space
I have struggled to want to be in my new writing space since moving four months ago. It didn’t have as many birds or squirrels in the trees out the window. I felt intimidated by my desk which had been given to me by a local, internationally esteemed author. She’d said it was ‘lucky.’ Naturally I decided If I wasn’t lucky, it’d be my fault then.
One day I finally had enough of avoiding this space and decided something was missing. I added plants from other rooms. I tacked up a fabric wall-hanging. I inserted mementos of loved ones such as the little portrait of my Grama and the tiny tin holding the white strands of fur from a recently departed feline writing companion. My ancestors look down from their frames, I’m sure never dreaming of what would become of me.
I have all my books here, of course. I don’t think I could write without my own reference books (cookbooks, maps, household and automobile maintenance, etiquette, songbooks, school readers, prayer books) on the shelves or serving as a footstool. I love odd treasures from estate sales. My space, my mind, and my writing are immersed in the past. I need all this to keep me tied to the continuum and illusion that is time, to remind me that the past is not that far away. It’s all now, and I want my writing to feel that sense of timelessness.
Anna Elgie (she/her) lives and writes in Calgary, Alberta. She is the 2024 winner of the Brenda Strathern award, and is writing a novel of historical Canadian fiction. Her published works may be read on annaelgie.com.