Q&A with Amanda West Lewis

 

Photo by Bonnie Joyce Photography

 

 

Amanda West Lewis is the author of the new young adult novel Focus. Click. Wind. Her other books include the middle grade novel These Are Not the Words. Also a theatre creator, calligrapher, and teaching artist, she lives near Perth, Ontario.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Focus. Click. Wind., and how did you create your character Billie?

 

A: During 2012, I became very focused on the Occupy Movement. I went to visit one of the camps, outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and it seemed to me that it was a counter-culture movement very similar to things I had experienced in the 1960s.

 

While I am younger than my character Billie, I was very much affected by the cultural revolution taking place at that time. I grew up believing that we have the ability to choose a different path from the norm, and I have tended to live in alternative environments all my life.

 

The Occupy Movement seemed to me to be saying something very important about questioning authority and the prevailing social structure. Occupy helped to spur on environmental activism and organizations such as Fridays for Future and 350.0rg.

 

These movements seem to be to be optimistic notes in a pessimistic time. They are filled with young people fighting an important fight. I wanted to write something that validated their activism.

 

Billie herself came from an amalgamation of my own personal history and some contemporary activists.

 

Q: How did you research the novel, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?

 

A: I read many books about the 1960s to dive deeply into what people were doing and thinking at the time. Although I was alive at the time, I was younger and there were many things I didn’t know about, so it really was a combination of researching and remembering.

 

But a lot of the information I got was first-hand –– I interviewed many people who were activists in the 1960s, and people who, in one way or another, were involved with the antiwar movement.

 

When I realized that my character was going to be an extension of my character Missy (Miranda Billie Taylor) from These Are Not the Words, I looked at how old she would be during the key moments in the fight against the war in Vietnam. Because I knew she lived in New York, it was natural that she wind up at the Columbia riots.

 

The big surprise for me was Agent Orange and the Canadian connection. I had no idea that Agent Orange was manufactured in Elmira, Ontario.

 

I had decided to bring Billie to Canada and knew that she would be spending time out on a farm in the Stratford area. The book, after all, draws on autobiographical elements and my mother and I had a hobby farm –– well, more of a “hippy farm” –– in that area in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

 

While I knew that Billie would end up going out there, discovering that Agent Orange was being manufactured down the road was entirely serendipitous. It was actually quite a shock.

Q: How was the book’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: Billie uses her father’s camera to see the world, to “frame” it, if you will. It is how she controls the chaos.

 

Pre-digital cameras required focussing. The shutter clicked with a distinctive sound. You wound the film forward to the next shot. It is a physical, tactile experience that forces you to be engaged in decisions about what you are seeing and what you are “capturing.”

 

The title comes from a desire to convey that rhythm and connection to a different way of living a life –– a life of observation, where one is a bit cerebral and distanced. For Billie, life can be too painful unless she is in control.

 

Q: The Kirkus Review of the book says, “Readers may benefit from Lewis’ depiction of the day-to-day realities of young Americans and Canadians during the Vietnam War as well as explorations of the importance of protest and considerations of violence perpetrated in the name of a greater good.” What do you think of that description, and what do you hope readers take away from the book?

 

A: I think that’s a fair thing to say. I think it is important to ask oneself about violence and how far one will go to make the world a better place. Violence is empowering, and young people, if they don’t feel listened to or empowered, sometimes turn to that route.

 

Unfortunately, we are seeing that happening all over the world from bombings to self-immolation. Self-immolation must be the clearest indication of desperation and a feeling of powerlessness, and we have recently seen some horrifying examples of that.

 

I think a novel is a perfect place to address that issue. You can explore a moral framework in a desperate situation.

 

My hope would be that readers see that their commitment to ideals and values is important, but that violence isn’t an effective tool. I want them to know that their passion and moral outrage is justified and that there are ways to channel that into enacting change.

 

Let rage motivate you to do something positive and beneficial for society. Don’t let it eat you up. And don’t blindly trust those around you –– they might want to use you for their own ends.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: Right now, I am letting some thoughts percolate for a new novel. Many people who have read both These Are Not the Words and Focus. Click. Wind. have asked me what Missy/Billie is doing next. I’m taking some time to reflect on that. But there are also other historical social revolutions that I am drawn to exploring as well.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I have two new books coming out. They are completely different from my novels, but I think they still contain my core belief about respecting the passion, perspective, and intelligence of young people. Young people are desperate to try to understand the world around them and I’m hoping that my books give them some tools to do that.

 

My new book, A Planet is a Poem (Kids Can Press, May 7, 2024), is a picture book that combines science and poetry. I explore the solar system using different poetic forms and explore different poetic forms through my fascination with the solar system.

 

I’m passionate about how we use language to explore ideas, and I think this book really exemplifies that.

 

Next year, I have a graphic novel coming out, Izaac and The Doctor (Kids Can Press, 2025). It is a book about Dr. Janus Korczak, a Polish pediatrician, children’s author, and advocate for children’s rights who ran orphanages in Poland from 1911 – 1942.

 

His ideas continue to be influential throughout the world. I’m honoured to be bringing his story to life for young people.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb