大象传媒

Growing up in a small Ontario town, Loghan Paylor dreamed of becoming a hero from one of their beloved books鈥攁 Jedi Knight, perhaps, or a dragon rider. Today, the Writer鈥檚 Studio (TWS) graduate might be doing something even more powerful. In their debut novel, the queer and trans author has imagined a free and hopeful world where people can truly be who they鈥檙e meant to be.

尝辞驳丑补苍鈥檚 The Cure for Drowning was released in early 2024 by Penguin Random House Canada. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, the book combines historical fiction and magical realism in a richly layered love story that centres queer and non-binary characters in original ways. The epic novel has been hailed as 鈥渄eeply moving鈥� by the Miramichi Reader and 鈥渁 stirring page-turner鈥� by the Vancouver Sun.  

鈥淚t鈥檚 been wonderful to see the explosion of queer literature and trans literature over the last decade or so,鈥� says Loghan. 鈥淏ut I think there鈥檚 a trend in media to focus on more tragic and more upsetting aspects of queer and transgender lives. When I set out to write this book, I wanted a book where queer family and the joy of it are celebrated.鈥�

While Loghan has loved writing and telling stories since childhood, their road to becoming an author was far from direct. They first studied creative writing at Concordia University, but after moving to B.C., finding time to write became trickier. To pay the bills, they found themselves taking on an eclectic variety of jobs鈥攄og trainer, retail manager, historical interpreter for a heritage site.

鈥淚 ended up pretty far from where I鈥檇 intended to be,鈥� they laugh. 鈥淲hen I heard about TWS, I saw it as a way to get me back on track, back to what I was passionate about.鈥�

Loghan was drawn to the part-time program because it would allow them to juggle a day job with their writing. At the time, tuition wasn鈥檛 easy to come by, they admit, but ultimately, it was a worthwhile investment.

鈥淚t reignited the spark and made me realize this is what I need to be doing, this is what I want to be doing, and I鈥檓 ready to rearrange my life to make it happen.鈥�

Aside from the encouraging support of the program鈥檚 mentors and the chance to experiment in different genres, Loghan says they appreciated participating in workshops with writers of diverse ages and backgrounds: 鈥淚t was an extremely valuable learning experience to see how different readers and writers would respond to my work. It prepared me for what it鈥檚 really like in the book space once you get published.鈥�

After graduating from TWS in 2016, Loghan gave up their full-time job to begin their MFA at UBC and continue their writing journey. The Cure for Drowning took six years to complete, from early scribblings through countless hours of historical research, to final manuscript. Given the lengthy creative process, Loghan was surprised by the quick path to publication. They heard back from a publisher within just six weeks of pitching the manuscript.

Although 尝辞驳丑补苍鈥檚 work had appeared in Prairie Fire and Room Magazine previously, nothing compared to seeing their own book in print. 

鈥淪hortly after it was published,鈥� recalls Loghan, 鈥淚 walked into an Indigo store and saw about 30 copies of my book, all down one shelf. I think I started crying in the middle of the aisle!鈥�

Perhaps even more gratifying has been the feedback they鈥檝e received from readers. 鈥淚鈥檓 just blown away by how overwhelmingly positive the response to this book has been,鈥� says Loghan.

鈥淓very time I go to a signing or other event, I have people tell me they read my book and really saw themselves in it, or they learned something new. It鈥檚 just everything I鈥檝e hoped for.鈥�

By Kim Mah