Opening the Tent Flap |
Opening the Tent Flap
By Lindsay Smith
I was nervous about enrolling in CMU's School of Writing last spring, because I am not Mennonite. I worried differences in religion would make it hard for me to fit in. Since the instructor is usually the biggest single determinant of the tone of the course, I researched Rudy Wiebe, who would be leading the fiction section, to find out what I was getting into. Even the title of his first novel, Peace Shall Destroy Many, intrigued me, since I knew that non-violence was a way of life for Mennonites. I quickly learned that Rudy Wiebe's novels took on the touchy side of subjects like passivism, sex, and religious community. Since he was no stranger to controversy, but the faculty at CMU was letting him run things anyways, I figured I wouldn't cause much of a stir.
Lots of writing workshops are carefully secular. Rather than risk offending anyone, participants creep around the subject of religion. I imagined that this particular workshop, would give me the opportunity, at least in private, to ask Mr. Wiebe about how coming from a close religious community had shaped his writing. Some saw his realistic portrayal of Mennonite communities as akin to Ham throwing the tent flap open to expose his father Noah. I wanted to know if Rudy felt ever exiled for what he wrote, and if he had any regrets.
I grew up in Calgary, but with strong ties to the Mormon settlements in southern Alberta, where most towns grew around religious denominations: Hutterite, Mormon, and Lutheran among the most visible. My life has been divided into a public world of schools, universities and jobs where religion was not freely discussed, and a private world deeply flavored by a religious community that required loyalty. I wondered if I could write honestly about my own experience without betraying my faith. I also wondered if my viewpoint would be so specific to being Mormon that no one would be interested.
I didn't need to wait for a private opportunity to discuss my dilemma with Rudy. He laid out on the very first day that there are some topics writers have to ask themselves if they dare to write about at all. Rudy did not gloss over his own experience; he left Canada for a time because of the controversy generated by his first novel. He was also honest enough with us to admit that, mostly because changes in his perspective, he wasn't proud of everything he had written in the past.
I think the fear of exposing yourself or your family is universal to all authors, so is the fear that, once exposed, you will be prove to be too odd for anyone to connect to your writing. CMU gave me the rare opportunity to discuss with other budding authors how these fears included the place of religion in writing. We didn't all agree on approach. I feel fiction can discuss religion, but I prefer a tone that is thoughtful, frank and solemn. Some participants took a metaphorical approach and others opted for humour. We disturbed and irritated each other on occasion.
Towards the end of the week, one workshop member asked those of us who weren't Mennonite, if we felt like the discussion had been too slanted to that particular faith. I replied that it hadn't, instead it allowed me to learn how many things we had in common.
Originally published in Wordwrap, the Manitoba Writers' Guild's magazine for writers
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