CS Richardson on writing with all the colour in the world
"I trust implicitly the wisdom, the intellectual smarts, the insight of my readers. I don't think I have to lead them by the hand."
We spoke with author and book designer CS Richardson, whose first novel The End of the Alphabet won the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best 1st Book. His new book, All the Colour in the World is a kaleidoscopic novel about a boy’s love affair with art and a man’s struggle with loss. And while we had him on the line, we took the opportunity to talk a bit about his other career as one of Canada’s most celebrated book designers.
All the Colour in the World
The story of the restorative power of art in one man’s life, set against the sweep of the twentieth century—from Toronto in the '20s and '30s, through the killing fields of World War II, to 1960s Sicily.
View eBook View AudiobookRichardson has a strong view about his spare yet vivid prose style: "I write lean. It's the kind of book I like to read. I'm long done with doorstop books. Not that there's anything wrong with those books, but I tend to read and write lean and short."
Some of the books and authors he admires who also write economically:
Silk by Alessandro Baricco
Ru by Kim Thúy
"Kyo Maclear I'm a fan of."
"Ali Smith: I love her writing."
"Julian Barnes cannot be beat as far as I'm concerned."
In 2023 CS Richardson judged the Literary Fiction category of the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, selecting Erica McKeen's Tear as the winner.
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Author photo: Clay Patrick McBride
