Lissa M. Cowan

Books by Lissa M. Cowan

Words that Walk in the Night

by Pierre Morency

Vehicule Press, 2001.

Milk Fever

by Lissa M. Cowan

Demeter Press, 2013.

About Me

Lissa M. Cowan is the author of Milk Fever (2013), works of non-fiction and is co-translator of Words that Walk in the Night by Pierre Morency, one of Québec’s most honoured writers. She writes for Huffington Post on topics ranging from creativity and her writing has appeared in Canadian and U.S. magazines and newspapers. She has received fellowships from the University of Victoria’s Writing Department and The Banff Centre. She holds a Master of Arts degree in English Studies from l’Université de Montréal and divides her time between Vancouver Island and Toronto.

Why do you write?

Ideas. My mind fixes on an idea about a person or situation or both, and I have a hard time letting go. It literally becomes a fixation until I start writing about it. Then it becomes an obsession. For me writing is about exploring ideas that captivate my imagination and encourage me to dig further. I like taking those things and looking at them in a different light.

Any favorite authors? Books?

I'm endlessly fascinated by worlds created by Italo Calvino and others from Oulipo - Ouvroir de littérature potentielle; roughly translated: "workshop of potential literature." Another one in this group I like is Georges Perec.

As far as books, I would say Baron in the Trees, The Waves (Virginia Woolf), Madame Bovary (Flaubert) and books by newer authors such at Kate Atkinson, Nicole Krauss and Jennifer Egan. Also, anything by Lydia Davis.