Writers’ Trust of Canada co-founder David Young.ERNESTO DiSTEFANO/Supplied
As one of the founders of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, playwright David Young literally put his blood into the literary charity that this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
In the mid-1970s, the fledgling program to support the country’s authors was called the Writers’ Development Trust. Young was an editor tasked with putting together a fundraising proposal for Walter Gordon, a former Liberal finance minister and considered the voice of Canadian economic nationalism. He was a big deal.
“I’m working on an IBM electric typewriter, trying to get the columns of figures straight,” Young recalls. “I’m typing and retyping this proposal for Walter Gordon, who was going to come to my office, in person!”
Writers' Trust co-founders Graeme Gibson, Margaret Atwood, and David Young.ERNESTO DiSTEFANO/Supplied
A knock on the door preceded Gordon’s entry. Young handled him his perfectly typed stack of papers but was horrified to see the cover page covered in blood.
“I had a paper cut,” he says. “It was a shocking moment for me at the time.”
Gordon, not squeamish, contributed $5,000 to the trust, which was at the time a major donation for the organization that began in 1976. On Thursday at the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto, tickets cost $1,500 for the charity’s annual fundraiser, the Writers’ Trust Storytellers Ball.
Young spoke from his home in Toronto.
The trust’s founders were Pierre Berton, Margaret Laurence, yourself, and Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, who were a couple until his death in 2019. But is it fair to say that you and Gibson were most involved?
Yes, and I really got to know Graeme during that process. He was older than me, but I immediately felt a kinship. He was associated with House of Anansi Press and I was an editor at Coach House Books. Graeme had a silver tongue and a great sense of the moment we were in as a country.
You’re talking about cultural and economic nationalism?
It was in the air. In the late 1960s, there was a lot of cultural money floating around. Theatres were forming, that kind of thing. But it was all done in a helter-skelter way. And there was still no public acknowledgment that there was such a thing as Canadian literature and Canadian theatre. People would talk about what things could be like some day. Yeah? Some day, we thought, is now.
David Young, far right, in front of Coach House in the 1970s.courtesy of Writers’ Trust of Canada/Supplied
What was the original idea for the trust?
Graeme and I discussed it smoking our cigarettes and drinking our whisky. The first idea we had was crazy − or maybe not so crazy. It would be a writers’ centre, where the Writers’ Union of Canada and Writers’ Development Trust could have their offices. Writers could stay there. There would be a restaurant on the main floor. And a bar.
Of course.
Of course! It was modelled on a place in London called the Groucho Club, which at the time was a very cool place for literary people to get drunk and talk. The hope was that we’d get an unused building that was historically designated, and that somebody would donate it to us. We spent a year looking at various buildings. It gave us a focus. That’s how we began. It didn’t happen though − it was too much.
Farley Mowat with Pierre Berton at a dinner party in 1989.Supplied
There were no awards initially. This was to be about community, is that right?
Yes, yes, yes. There’s a wonderful quote by French novelist and politician André Malraux: ‘The mind supplies the idea of a nation, but what gives this idea its sentimental force is a community of dreams.’ We could have that tattooed on our arms. Writers from all over the country were emerging into careers and there was no such thing as a standard publishing contract. Reading gigs were non-existent − you’d read in a high school gym. The whole thing was nascent.
Besides your fundraising events, where does the money come from for these dreams?
From the public. The same way you can support Canadian Olympic athletes. People’s wills − they leave money to the Writers’ Trust. Author Timothy Findley left his royalties estate to the trust. It’s one of things I will mention to people who come to the dinner on Thursday. This is a good home for a chunk of cash when you’re writing a will.
Graeme Gibson in a classroom.Supplied
What role did Atwood, Berton and Laurence play in the creation of the Writers’ Trust?
They gave us profile. Margaret Atwood was deeply involved because it was happening at her and Graeme’s kitchen table.
The Writers’ Trust gives out 13 annual awards worth more than $600,000. What’s their role in building community?
The awards aren’t everything, but they are important for bringing literature to the public imagination. They’re good for literature, for the country and for the writers. But it doesn’t solve the big problem of writers earning a living.
With all its awards and programs now, could you have imagined today’s Writers’ Trust 50 years ago?
It’s evolved far beyond what any of us had imagined. We were living in hope and optimism. It’s important to understand that all came out of Graeme Gibson’s urgent enthusiasm about the perilous state of Canadian culture. The idea was to build something enduring that would support people, particularly in the early stages of their career. That’s the people I worry about. We have to support these young writers.
This interview has been edited and condensed.