BCC Shines A Light On: Janis La Couvée (2)
Name of the piece published by BCC:
My Mother Believed in the Power of Wind
When/where was it originally published:
In VanIsle Poetry Collective issue 3, Winter 2022. Unfortunately the collective ceased publishing in early 2024 but past magazines can be found on Issue.
Tell us more about your piece! What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?
The pandemic lead to a lot of writing and pondering. I owe my love of being outdoors in all weather to my mother who took us on long rambles on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island as a child. She was admitted to long term care just before the pandemic. During lockdown, and even after, it was extremely difficult to visit or spend time with her, due to restrictions. I had been thinking about her life, the debt I owed her for instilling an adventurous spirit in me and my siblings, and how that contrasted with her life in long term care, and her physical limitations.
How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the piece changed from then to now?
I was happy to see my mother honoured and a moment of our lives captured for others to read.
Is there a specific message you would like readers to take away from reading this piece?
When people go to those same beaches now, the very popular, known-world-wide beaches of Long Beach/Pacific Rim National Park, Canada, their experience is not the same – they have paths and trails, we were bushwhacking and climbing rock faces over deep tidal channels. The danger was real, and exhilarating. I hope readers sense this exhilaration.
What else would you like to tell readers about your writing? (Doesn’t have to refer only to your BCC piece)
People have commented that I have the ability to take readers on a journey from the universal, to the personal back to the universal. I like to ponder the big questions as they relate to myself, and by extension, to each of us.
Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)
My website is being updated janislacouvee.com
You can find me on Twitter, BSky and Mastodon @lacouvee and Facebook and Instagram @janislacouveeonline
