Chapter 161: Yann Martel on rural revelations and reliable writing routines

Happy blue moon, everyone!   Yes, it is indeed the second full moon of the month which brings us a second May chapter of 3 Books.   This one features an author I've been hoping to have on our show for years.    Join me in welcoming the Booker Prize–winning novelist, deeply philosophical storyteller, and one of Canada's most distinctive literary voices ... Mr. Yann Martel!    Yann is best known for 'Life of Pi', the global phenomenon that won The Booker Prize in 2002, sold over 15 million copies worldwide, and was later adapted into an Academy Award–winning film.   Born in Salamanca, Spain in 1963, Yann spent his childhood in Spain, Portugal, Alaska, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada.    Yann's work is deeply shaped by a pulsing curiosity, philosophy, and research. He journeyed through India while developing 'Life of Pi', visited Holocaust memorial sites while writing 'Beatrice and Virgil', and even launched a "guerilla book club" called '101 Letters to a Prime Minister', where he mailed books to former Prime Minister Stephen Harper every two weeks for four years.    Yann's newest novel, 'Son of Nobody', is a (new!) ancient retelling of the Trojan War told through the modern lens of a Canadian researcher who discovers this poem while exploring themes of homesickness, regret, ambition, love, and grief.   Tune in as we discuss Yann's writing routines, the importance of stories, AI in the world of publishing, racism in Australia, art as a co-creation between writer and reader, the beauty of the prairies, and of course, Yann Martel's most formative books...    Let's flip the page to Chapter 161 now...