Women Reading Women: Sidura Ludwig
Welcome to Women Reading Women — a series featuring women writers, and the women writers they love.
Sidura Ludwig is a fiction writer living in Thornhill, Ontario. Her short story collection YOU ARE NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED (House of Anansi Press) won the Vine Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award. She has her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is on faculty with the Sarah Selecky Writing School.
What is a book you would recommend to any woman writer?
THE POET X, by Elizabeth Acevedo. It’s a YA novel-in-verse. The writing leaps off the page. It’s a glorious exploration of sexuality, voice and the moment you discover who you are, no turning back.
What’s your top book written by a woman?
THE COLOR PURPLE, by Alice Walker. I come back to this book again and again. Alice Walker is fearless in her storytelling. This book never fails to inspire me, and it reminds me to write boldly. I also remember reading once that Walker saw herself as a vessel for her characters’ stories. They would talk, she would write. That’s the kind of trust I want to have in my own imagination, and the relationship I aim for with my own characters.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“Kill the idea of writing something good. Write because you love it.” from Sarah Selecky
What should every aspiring writer do/know/try/fear/run toward?
Every aspiring writer should write toward their fears. They should write in spite of their fears. They should look their fears in the eye and then put that down on paper. There is honesty in fear, and if you want your stories to resonate, you need to write from your gut, with honesty.
Why do you think books by women are important?
Readers both need to see their own experiences reflected in books, and they need to be introduced to experiences outside of their own. It’s how our own stories are both validated and shared; how we feel noticed and how we notice others. When we make space in publishing for women’s stories, especially those from marginalized communities, as well as non-binary and trans voices, we broaden our understanding of the world and its complexities. Our books are a lens through which we allow our readers to see the world, for a moment, through our eyes. We don’t have to go back too far in history to understand how narrow that lens becomes if we don’t have books by women.
Quick-fire Questions
City you were born in versus city your heart belongs to?
Winnipeg and Winnipeg.
A piece of art that inspires you?
I love musicals. These days I’m listening to COME FROM AWAY and IN THE HEIGHTS on repeat. For both, I love the way the creators explore the theme of “home”.
Fill in the blank: ___ helps stimulate my creativity.
Tea.
Describe your writing in three words.
Slow. Lyrical. Focused.
What’s an assumption about you that you don’t think is true?
That I am calm and have it all under control.
Name a book that you wish you wrote.
MAY B. by Caroline Starr Rose
In your opinion, who is the most underrated author?
Lori Lansens
What’s a book people would be surprised to see in your book collection?
WORDS FOR PICTURES, by Brian Michael Bendis. Because one day I might write a graphic novel. ■
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