Spotlight On Writers
Lindsay Soberano Wilson
- Where do you originate from?
I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I am a first-generation Canadian and the granddaughter of Romanian Holocaust survivors and Spanish Moroccan immigrants. I grew up in the suburbs of North York in a diverse community and when I became a high school English and Drama teacher in 2005, I taught in Scarborough and North York.
- What do you cherish most about the place you call home?
I love the Canadian landscape and nature and the diversity in cities like Toronto and Montreal. Since the winters are long, thank goodness my family and I love hockey. My three sons and husband are fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors! I took the two eldest boys and a friend to the Raptors Victory Parade in downtown Toronto in 2019.
On the other hand, since I like to travel, it’s no surprise that my idea of home is also spiritual. In my chapbook, Casa de mi Corazon: A Travel Journal of Poetry and Memoir (2021) I explore how my sense of home is shaped by travel to Israel and Europe and connected to my Spanish Moroccan culture because I spent a lot of time in my grandparents’ home in Lawrence Heights growing up.
My new release Breaking Up With the Cobalt Blues: Poems for Healing (2024, Prolific Pulse Press), finds peace in painful, messy, shameful parts of life unearthed at inconvenient times. With poems about suicide, sexual assault, addiction, intergenerational trauma, and a pandemic, Breaking Up With the Cobalt Blues is set in and around the Toronto 90s rave sub-culture when I was a teenager. Therefore, there are a few poems that refer to the imagery of downtown Toronto as home like skyscrapers, Lake Ontario, the docks, and the industrial warehouses on Cherry Street, for example. Then some poems play with nature imagery like the northern lights in the poems “Glimmers” and “Butterfly.”
- What ignites your creativity?
I find inspiration in small everyday occurrences that I just have to be open to observing with my poetic eye but other times I find the poem rolls around in my mind for a few days like when it begins as a thought or an observation and then it rings true in my mind and eventually, I put pen to paper.
Other times I follow a passion project until it becomes a finished product. Right now I have a few works in progress, such as a memoir Be A Somebody, about being a third-generation Holocaust survivor, and the beginnings of a coming-of-age piece of literary fiction.
- Do you have a favorite word and could you incorporate it into a poetic phrase?
I love the word luscious – the way it sounds and rolls off my tongue. Right now I am into playful language and playful poetry as I am thinking about crafting a book of love poems for my next poetry project. A poetic phrase…how about
“Luscious lips dipped in fun dip”…
- What is your pet peeve?
People who abuse authority and think authority is about control or power rather than respect. Bad management is my pet peeve. I think that leaders should inspire and encourage and never intimidate.
- How would you describe the essence of Lindsay Soberano Wilson?
As a teacher, my students describe me as funny, sweet, chill, and passionate! I am known for my loud laugh, bold smile, and sarcastic jokes. I wear my heart on my sleeve and it’s my greatest strength and fault. But mostly I can hear my students say “Yo, this teacher is so chill.” I think that my students and my audience are surprised by how down-to-earth I am.
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