Jordan Abel’s latest novel, Empty Spaces, is hypnotic work of fiction with no human characters and no dialogue as readers understand it.
“It’s a fictional story of the Earth. The plot surrounds changes and shifts in the Earth that goes over thousands of years. The book ends in post-apocalyptic place,” said Abel, a queer Nisg’a writer.
The Nisg’a poet and author reimagines James Fenimore Cooper’s Book The Last of the Mohicans from a modern urban Indigenous perspective, and what it means to be Indigenous without familial land.
As winner of the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, Abel is joining the STARFest audience on Friday, Feb. 28 at St. Albert Public Library.
He was inspired to write the book after reading a book by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz called An Indigenous People’s History of the United States. In it, Dunbar-Ortiz pointed out The Last of the Mohicans was instrumental in dampening any guilt associated with America’s Indigenous genocide.
Cooper’s narrative of western lands and territory were described as beautiful and pristine yet empty and desolate. Abel turned the lens around noting these spaces are filled with life, both human and non-human — the opposite of empty.
“This book has both allegorical and metaphorical layers. It’s about trying to have a relationship with the land when you have been disconnected from it,” said Abel. “It’s composed of thousands and thousands of images and descriptions of the land. Time passes between chapters and seasons.”
Abel, currently an associate professor for the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, grew up in Vancouver and outside of Toronto.
“As a Nisg'a person, I should have been in a relationship with my traditional territory. I haven’t had a chance to live there, and I’ve tried to write about the land without bringing in geographic connections.”
The novel’s 70,000 words was a seven-year journey where the author composed thousands and thousands of images and descriptions of the land with time passing between chapters and seasons.
“I won’t lie," he said. "This is a challenging book for the reader.”
Matthew James Weigel, an award-winning Dënësulinë and Métis writer, will host a conversation with Abel. Weigel is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Alberta and his book of poetry, Whitemud Walking, is a book about the land he was born on and the institutions that now occupy it.
The STARFest presentation starts at 7 p.m. in the downtown library on 5 St. Anne Street. The event is free, however, registration is required. Register at https://sapl.libcal.com/event/3859788.
