An Oprah pick, a Giller Prize-winner, and on just about every eligible prize shortlist or Best of the Year list, Suzette Mayr’s The Sleeping Car Porter was one of the biggest literary sensations of recent years. It brings to life an important part of Black history in North America, from the perspective of a queer man living in a culture that renders him invisible in two ways. Affecting, imaginative, and visceral enough that we feel the rocking of the train, we are drawn into Baxter’s life in which he must navigate the perils of white passengers, ghosts, and his secret love affair. The novelist shares with us the journey of writing her sixth novel, why her fiction is so richly imaginative and diverse in theme and focus, and why she thinks so many, across the continent, fell in love with Baxter the porter. Moderated by Jael Richardson.

Event Participants:

Suzette Mayr

SUZETTE MAYR is the author of the novels Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall, Monoceros, Moon Honey, The Widows, Venous Hum and The Sleeping Car Porter, which won the 2022 Giller Prize.

Jael Richardson

JAEL RICHARDSON is the executive director of the FOLD literary festival, the books columnist on CBC Radio’s q, and an advocate on issues of diversity. She is the author of The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lesson, a Father’s Life, and Gutter Child, a finalist for the Amazon Canada First Novel Award.