Arteles Catalogue 2023-2020

Back to Basics program / AUGUST 2022
Vicki Donkin
Canada
vdonkin.com
About
Born with a heightened sense of curiosity in Prince Edward
Island, Canada, Vicki Donkin tries to find stories in all things
by prompting herself to “Imagine if…” This first took shape
as writing on her father’s DOS computer and evolved into
filmmaking as a young woman. It has since matured into
works of prose fiction, many of which have been published in
various magazines and shortlisted for awards. Most recently,
Vicki has completed her first full-length novel of feminist
literature, Body of Water. Her ritual of storytelling also
extends to learning languages, experimenting with traditional
recipes, and creating narratively structured DJ sets.
Vicki finds comfort in the uncanny and is interested in the (un)
natural ways we contort ourselves to receive acceptance.
Lately, she is curious as to how our individual use of
languages conceals, yet reveals these attempts at contortion
and how this understanding can develop in a characterdriven
narrative.
Sight: All the Names by José Saramago
Sound: Fongola by KOKOKO!
Smell: wet stones
Taste: chimichurri octopus
Touch: ridges on seashells
into the portal
While at Arteles, I discovered my connection to mother
energy and the joy of being lost. This gave me the confidence
to locate myself within my fiction and bring the themes of
motherhood and loss to the forefront of my next novel. The
visual representation of the narrative structure came to me
after an experience in the forest and allowed all the abstract
plot points to become chronologically anchored. This
became a framework for the experimental linguistic elements
to mirror the duality of the two main characters and ultimately
create a narrative that examines the humanistic tendency to
code-switch in times of discomfort and shame.
I went into the portal and found the here and now of my work.
Sight: Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Esté
Sound: Funky Järvi
Smell: warm cedar
Taste: babka
Touch: mohair knits