Lara Stokes

Lara Stokes grew up in Northern Ontario and now lives and writes in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario. Her work has appeared in The Danforth Review, The Ottawa Arts Review, Burnt Toast (newsletter for The Writer’s Union of Canada) and has been shortlisted for the Toronto Fringe New Play Contest and Geist’s CanLit Short Fiction contest. In 2007 she completed an Honors BA in Theatre and Creative Writing at York University, where she was the recipient of the b.p. Nichol award and the Judith Eve Gewertz Award.

Stokes's debut novel is Midsummer Nights.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Midsummer Nights was originally called Community Theatre. In the editorial process, we wanted something more immediate that would place readers in the world of the novel more easily. As it is set in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, is set in summer and has romantic elements, the shortened Midsummer Nights does more to establish the tone and subject. It’s a change I’m very happy to have made.

What's in a name?

A lot! My protagonist’s name is Miranda. I wanted her to have a Shakespearean name that didn’t have too many immediate connotations (Juliet, Ophelia…) but that also informed her character a little. Her parents are an actor and director who own a local theatre named Tempest Theatre - in The Tempest, Miranda is the daughter of the sorcerer Prospero. In the book, she is up against her parents’ creative power over her, and, as in the play, has to fight to establish her own identity within a male-dominated society (and in my book, industry). Maybe it’s an unnecessary layer, but I wanted to make sure that when it came to Shakespearean references, I was making intentional choices.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your new novel?

My teenage self would be delighted! My whole world was theatre - I read Shakespeare for fun, had my first kiss onstage, and took myself very seriously. There is a lot of teenage Lara in this book (including playing Wendy and smoking a cigar out back in my nightgown!). I was such an earnest little nerd. A lot of this book is for her.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I hate writing both, but both went roughly as planned in this book. Miranda makes a choice towards the end that is her own - I didn’t plan that, but I had to go with it! The very first page is actually one of the last things I wrote.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

The main critical feedback on this book has been that my protagonist is unlikeable, so it’s hard to answer that! I really reject the idea that a protagonist has to be likeable (and it’s rarely expected of male characters!) Many readers have loved her - she is very human, flawed and selfish, and I don’t shy away from that in a character. There is enough to love to appreciate the arc of her growth. Miranda’s snark and wit are very much my own, but I’m nicer!

Visit Lara Stokes's website.

Writers Read: Lara Stokes.

The Page 69 Test: Midsummer Nights.

--Marshal Zeringue