Overview

An artist's solitude is a sacred space, one to be guarded from the chaos of the world, where the sparks of inspiration can be kindled into fires of creation. But within this quiet also lie loneliness, self-doubt, the danger of collapsing too far inward. An artist needs a familiar, a companion with emotional intelligence, innate curiosity, an enthusiasm for the world beyond, but also the capacity to rest contentedly for many hours. What an artist needs, Helen Humphreys would say, is a dog. And a Dog Called Fig is a memoir of the writing life told through the dogs Humphreys has lived with and loved over a lifetime, including Fig, her new Vizsla puppy. Interspersed are stories of other writers and their own irreplaceable companions: Virginia Woolf and Grizzle, Gertrude Stein and Basket, Thomas Hardy and Wessex--who walked the dining table at dinner parties, taking whatever he liked--and many more. A love song to the dogs who come into our lives and all that they bring--sorrow, mayhem, reflection, joy--this is a book about steadfast friendship and loss, creativity and craft, and the restorative powers of nature. Every work of art is different; so too is every dog, with distinctive needs and lessons. And if we let them guide us, they will show us many worlds we would otherwise miss.

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Helen Humphreys is the author of nineteen works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, including Rabbit Foot Bill and The Frozen Thames. She has won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, a Lambda Literary Award for Fiction, and the Toronto Book Award, and her works have been shortlisted for the Governor General's Award, the Trillium Book Award, and CBC's Canada Reads award. She is the recipient of the Harbourfront Festival Prize for literary excellence. Tosca Hopkins is known for her work on Violentia and Polly Pocket.

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