By Trevor Greenway

Waubgeshig Rice never thought he would find himself exploring abandoned motels, empty roadside stores and deserted homes along Hwy 69 between Sudbury and Parry Sound. But that’s where much of his visual research took him when he was building the decaying world of his new book, ‘Moon of the Turning Leaves.’

The Indigenous author, journalist and storyteller travelled along that highway because he wanted to understand just how buildings age – how the wood rots and swells, how a once-solid roof could collapse from years of neglect and just how quickly vegetation and nature can take over a space that was once buzzing with life and activity. He said he didn’t have to travel far to find that inspiration. 

“With ‘Moon of the Turning Leaves’, it’s farther into the future – it takes place 12 years after the blackout that ends the world,” Rice said, describing the sequel to his first book, ‘Moon of the Crusted Snow.’ “So, you know, with the passage of time, there’s been deterioration. I had to do a bit of research in terms of how buildings decay after abandonment. How do communities decay after there are no people living there anymore? There are a lot of examples around where I live of that because Hwy 69 has changed.”

Rice told the Low Down that the world-building aspects of both his books – ‘Moon of the Crusted Snow’ and now the sequel – were the most fun to write, as he was able to creatively build parts of a new world by using real-life experiences to fill in those unknown gaps. 

“It was a fun sort of writing practice because, when you’re imagining the future, it’s all speculation, but there are, like, real life, current examples that you can draw from.”

Rice’s sequel picks up a decade after his first novel, where a global power outage has caused chaos and disorder. While it has been described as a post-apocalyptic journey, Rice, himself, calls it more of a “post-urban or post-technological or post-industrial” story – one of resilience, survival and heartbreak. He said he feels that we’ve already been through an apocalypse. 

“As is discussed in the books themselves, and more widely among Indigenous authors, is this experience of already having survived [the] apocalypse as Indigenous people,” said Rice. “It’s already our lived experience, having been displaced from our homelands and having been brutalized by the state and so on. And then I think when the pandemic happened, it just…solidified some of those themes for me.”

Rice will be exploring these themes and other issues on Oct. 16 alongside debut author Kai Thomas at this year’s Wakefield Writers Fête. The two Canadian authors are kicking off the 10th anniversary of the festival with ‘Stories of Resilience’ in what promises to be a thoughtful, provocative evening of words. 

Thomas’ debut novel ‘In the Upper Country’ explores slavery in Canada and gives a fresh perspective on the Underground Railroad. 

Both authors will join host Adrian Harewood onstage for an evening of discussion at the Wakefield community centre beginning at 7 p.m. For tickets, visit www.writersfete.com