Featured Writer: Merilyn Simonds
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing! It’s my great pleasure to feature author Merilyn Simonds in today’s issue of Women Writing.
About the author…
Merilyn Simonds is the internationally published author of 22 books, including the novel The Holding, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and the Canadian classic nonfiction novel, The Convict Lover, a finalist for the Governor General’s Award. Among her best-selling nonfiction is A New Leaf, the story of her gardens north of Kingston, and Gutenberg’s Fingerprint, a meditation on reading, writing, and the future of the printed book. Her recent book, Woman, Watching, which won the Foreword Indies Editor’s Choice Nonfiction Award for 2022, is an innovative memoir/biography of Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, an extraordinary recluse who changed the way we see birds. Simonds’ memoir, Walking with Beth: Conversations with my 100-Year-Old Friend is forthcoming from Random House Canada in September, 2025.
On a writing routine …
I write first thing in the morning before the to-dos of the day invade my brain. Luckily, my husband, who is a writer too, has the same routine.
On writing spaces …
In Canada, I write in my office, which overlooks a courtyard and beautiful garden. One wall, floor to ceiling, is books—we have libraries throughout the house and this one is international fiction. Another wall is a large window. Instead of a curtain, hand blown glass hummingbirds, hot-air balloons, birds, and nests hang from wide ribbons tied to a curtain rod, a variation on the Mexican practice of indicating a place of business with a curtain of fluttering ribbons. In Mexico, where I live half the year, my writing room is a large room that used to used for yoga classes. It is on the third floor and is walled on two sides by windows so that as I write I look out over the whole town and its five 17th century churches, which toll the hours for me.
On writing communities …
No, I have never been part of a writing group. Writing is a deeply personal activity for me. I only show my work to an editor and only then after I have taken it as far as I can.
I make an effort to clear myself of all advice, good or bad, when I am writing. It is jut me and the story engaging with each other. I do remember Margaret Atwood telling me to read, read, read.
On challenges …
I had two small boys when I was writing my first book, so I couldn’t write int he morning, only during school hours. But other than that, I never held a full-time job and so I was free to write when I wanted, fitting in money-earning and child care around that.
On the best writing advice …
I make an effort to clear myself of all advice, good or bad, when I am writing. It is jut me and the story engaging with each other. I do remember Margaret Atwood telling me to read, read, read.
On advice from personal experiences …
Read. Read. Read.
On rekindling creativity …
I prime the writerly pump with words. Certain writers never fail to get the juices flowing: Anne Enright, Annie Ernaux, Alba de Cespedes.
On a recent publication …
My book Walking with Beth will be out September 23. It is a series of short pieces that reproduce not only the content but the feel of weekly conversations I have with my friend Beth, who is exactly 30 years older than me. It is a book about friendship, especially female friendship in the latter years of life, and about passions, how they can sustain a person for a lifetime.
Merilyn’s online spaces …
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Happy writing!
I particularly enjoyed this Merilyn Simonds edition of Lisa Kovala. While waiting for my 10th book to come to fruition (CLOSING CEREMONIES) I am toying with the idea of taking a sabbatical from two writing groups, preferring to opt for a professional editor when I have gone as far as I can with a work and require some trusted polishing. I anxiously await the publication of Simonds' conversations with her 100-year-old friend.
Hi. Losing time is worse. I will hurry up as soon as possible.