"As a poet and writer, [Rosemary Sullivan] knows that life is lived not as theory but as practice, that . . . you can understand nothing about a place without listening to individual people and their stories." - Margaret Atwood
Incomparable writer, activist, and world traveller Rosemary Sullivan has at long last written a book about herself, about her life quest to "meet the world, to celebrate its richness, to face its darkness."
And what a fascinating book it is! Comprised of 21 essays spanning 5 decades and multiple continents, Where the World Was offers a vivid portrait of a writer who is instinctively drawn to other cultures and places.
Whether writing about a solo vacation inside the Iron Curtain, meeting the reclusive writer Elizabeth Smart in a dilapidated cottage in the English countryside, reflecting on how Chilean society responded to Pinochet's coup, or tracking down the people who knew Svetlana Alliluyeva for Stalin's Daughter, Sullivan delivers a master class in cultural studies, human rights advocacy, and empathy for the human condition. "In Where the World Was, Rosemary Sullivan investigates our planet with compelling aesthetic, biographical, and political engagement. Her reader cannot help but be both captivated and enthused. A truly engrossing travel experience." "Thank goodness for Rosemary Sullivan, a woman who runs towards life with courage and curiosity, recording what she encounters with ecstatic artistic attention - a life of journeys that cracked open her self and shaped her into one of Canada's finest writers." "Few writers have done more to elevate the craft of literary nonfiction in this country than Rosemary Sullivan. Here, finally, are the stories behind the stories that inspired her art, won her acclaim, and cemented her reputation as an icon of Canadian literature. A swashbuckling journey through the life and mind of a writer obsessed with a simple question: 'What drives a life?' Her answer: loving obsession." "From Canada to Russia, from Chile to Egypt, Sullivan's inquisitive, intelligent, and compassionate eye explores for us the world of yesterday and also of today. This collection is literary journalism at its very best."
