Nunavik writer Etua Snowball takes the time to answer the Proust Questionnaire. (Photo courtesy of Samuel Lagacé)
Etua Snowball was never planning to be a children’s writer.
But he is a father of three.
Snowball said he used to tell his daughters all sorts of bedtime stories about his childhood on tourist camps that his father owned in northern Quebec.
At the camp, Snowball would often spend hours on the land guiding tourists. In spring, he would be fishing, and in the fall, caribou hunting.
One day, his now-adult children told him to write the stories down.
“People would love them,” he recalled them saying.
So he did write them down. And people did seem to like them.
The Quebec Writers’ Federation recently announced that Snowball is one of the four authors shortlisted for its 2024 literary award for his book The Wolf Pup.
Winners will be announced during the awards gala Nov. 12 at the Cabaret Lion d’Or in Montreal, and Snowball is planning to make the trip to Montreal for it.
In addition to being a writer, he is an actor and a musician, and executive director of Isuarsivik Regional Recovery Centre in Kuujjuaq.
He recently talked to Nunatsiaq News from his office at the recovery centre to answer the Proust Questionnaire.
What’s your greatest fear?
Losing loved ones. I think it would be a great fear. Other than that, I think I try to take head on everything as much as possible.
Which living person do you most admire?
My most important person passed away last summer. That was my father. He was my most important person that I admired the most.
Which living person do you most despise?
Maybe [former U.S. president Donald] Trump? I think that would be a good answer. Yeah, anybody that creates chaos or instability.
What is your current state of mind?
Busy. Very busy. I am the executive director of a recovery centre, and it keeps me busy on my evenings and everything.
Where would you like to live?
I think I wouldn’t move. Like I said, I live in the North, I hunt and fish. This is where I grew up, where I wrote the books. I can’t go on vacation for more than a week. I got to go home.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
‘Your positive energy made this happen.’ That’s kind of my frame of mind. I say that when I have my staff meetings or at happy moments when somebody did something good.
Which talent would you most like to have?
I like acting, so I think improving that would be good. I enjoy that very much, and it’s part of my life. I would like to make a movie. Writing and directing my own movie.
Once in front of God, what would you tell him?
I’m not religious, first of all. So, if there was one, I would say thank you for the great life I had.
Nunatsiaq News is borrowing the old Proust Questionnaire parlour game to get to know people who are in the news. If you know someone in your community who our readers should get to know by taking this questionnaire, let us know by email: editors@nunatsiaq.com.