By Eva Rachert – News Editor

On Friday, March 10, the Morris House Reading Series hosted poet Kasia Van Schaik, who read from her debut story collection We Have Never Lived on Earth, published in 2022. The event was held in the Cleghorn Room, and was open for professors, staff, and students across departments to attend. It was intended to create an informal atmosphere to allow the author to share her stories, discuss with students, and answer questions from attendees. 

The Morris House Reading Series, which brings writers from across Canada to the Bishop’s campus, is supported by the Bishop’s University Academic Enrichment Fund and the Bishop’s University Speakers’ Committee, among other bodies. Dr. Linda Morra of the English department has been directing the series since its inception in 2008. This year’s readings are hosted by assistant professor Dr. Jessi MacEachern. 

The event began at 3 p.m., with Dr. MacEachern introducing the series and speaking on her experience organizing the event. She then introduced Van Schaik. Van Schaik is a South-African-born, Montreal-based writer and finalist for the 2022 Concordia First Book Prize. Van Schaik’s writing has been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, the Best Canadian Poetry Anthology, and by CBC. She holds a PhD from McGill University, teaches creative writing, and is a postdoctoral fellow at Concordia University. 

After Dr. MacEachern concluded her introduction, Van Schaik was invited to speak at the front of Cleghorn. She described We Have Never Lived on Earth, from which she was reading, as “a novel in stories.” The anthology follows the protagonist, Charlotte, from her childhood in British Columbia to adulthood as she travels across the world. The anthology is intended to make the reader ask, “What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be alone?” Although Van Schaik amended, “The women in this collection are not alone but … alone together.”

Van Schaik read two stories to the attendees: “Notes on a Separation” and the title story “We Have Never Lived on Earth”. “Notes”, a more surreal story, follows Charlotte and an unnamed love interest through the disintegration of their relationship as they are evicted from their house and it falls apart around them. Van Schaik explained the story by asking, “What would it be like if a house disappeared around you like a relationship can?” 

“We Have Never Lived on Earth” takes place in a “parallel Montreal” in which the climate disaster has worsened immensely. It deals with questions of motherhood and ethics in the face of a global crisis. A longer story than “Notes”, the readings ultimately concluded at 3:35 p.m., after which Van Schaik took questions from the audience. 

The question period lasted until 4 p.m. Van Schaik discussed her writing process, her personal connection to the stories she told, and her future projects. She then signed student copies of her book, and the event dispersed just after 4 p.m. We Have Never Lived on Earth is available for purchase at Doolittles’ Co-op.