Meet the Author: Kasia Van Schaik

Kasia Van Schaik’s recent book, Women Among Monuments, caught my eye—history and memoir, an exploration of women’s genius (affiliate link*)? I’m all in.

Kasia made time for a Meet the Author interview, and I loved what she had to say about honoring her writing practice and how her experience with perfectionism shows up in her teaching.

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Kasia Van Schaik is the author of the Giller-nominated story collection We Have Never Lived on Earth (University of Alberta Press, 2022) and the book of cultural criticism and memoir, Women Among Monuments (Dundurn, 2026). She is also the co-editor of the essay collection Shelter in Text: Essays on Dwelling and Refuge.

Her writing has appeared in Electric Literature, the LA Review of Books, Geist, Maisonneuve Magazine, Room, and the CBC. Kasia holds a PhD in literature from McGill University and is an assistant professor of English and co-director of Creative Writing at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, Wolastoqiyik territory.

Tell me about your journey to writing Women Among Monuments.

I knew that I wanted to write a book that explored women writers and artists’ creative journeys. I had been carrying these questions around with me for many years—since my late teens.

Questions like, who gets to live a creative life? What could this life look like for women?

I recognised that many people have written about these themes. Was there anything new to say? Deep down, I felt there was. But I needed an original way in—this was the only way I could add to the conversation.

The title for my book came from an article in the Guardian about the first woman PhD, Elena Cornaro Piscopia of 17th century Padua. The city councillors’ proposal to place her monument among the statues of notable men in the central city square was met with fiery opposition. I did a double take: this wasn’t happening in some past century but in 2022.

In the article, city councillor Margherita Colonnello pointed out that despite the backlash to the proposed inclusion of Piscopia’s statue in the town’s square, “The important thing is that we have raised the debate about the underrepresentation of women among monuments and it is now very clear to all politicians that we need a very good statue of a woman in a very good place.”

Usually titles come late in the game for me—I’ll have a working title that will change over the drafts of a story or a longer work. This time, though, the title came first. Women Among Monuments. I knew I had my way in.

Can you walk me through a day in the life of your writing practice?

I’ve actually written a response to this very question in Women Among Monuments. The short answer is that writing alongside fulltime work has always been a balancing act, and one that I’m not that good at. This means I often stay up late to get some writing and thinking time in.

I find I need a good swath of uninterrupted time—two weeks at least—to really enter a project and get some kind of draft on paper. Once I’m in, I can work around a work schedule because I have this visceral need to get back into the work and I’ll do it on a lunch break or between courses, all weekend.

But I need that initial immersion, and this can be tricky. A lot of my chapter first drafts are written in August and then edited throughout the year.

Below is an excerpt of a day in the life from six years ago when I was staying up late, writing my PhD dissertation, working as a freelance editor and sessional lecturer, and finishing my first book, We Have Never Lived on Earth. Thankfully I no longer have a floordrobe.

What mindset challenges have you encountered while writing? How do you handle those?

The biggest challenge I’ve faced is finding the sense of self-permission that it takes to claim and defend the time and solitude required for writing, or for making any kind of art. I know that I’m not alone in this. I think one of the ways I’ve handled this predicament is by writing about it.

In Women Among Monuments I examine the long-standing refusal to recognize women among monuments by looking at women writers’ and artists’ past and present relationships to solitude, self-permission, and ambition. I’ve taken comfort in learning how others have faced similar threats in their creative lives. When interrogated, imposter syndrome loses its power.

What is something you love about the craft of writing?

I love revision. I know some people don’t but I love getting a sentence just right. I also love that writing is something you can do anywhere. On a train, in bed like W.G. Sebald, by lakes. A lot of my notebooks have water stains.

What was your publishing experience like?

For a long time, I was too much of a perfectionist, never sending out my work, not seizing opportunities—even agents’ requests—because I didn’t think my work was good enough. In some ways I’m glad that I waited to publish my first book, because I feel that I can really stand behind it and am proud of the work.

But on the other hand, I think my sense of perfectionism and imposter syndrome has inhibited me. I was too easily discouraged and put too much weight in the tastes, offhand comments, and opinions of others.

I have tried to remedy this in my own mentorship and teaching. I tell my students that publishing opens you to new communities—and this is one of the most rewarding parts of getting a project out into the world, be it a zine, chapbook, story collection or novel. I encourage them to go to readings and other literary events to build these communities.

It’s kind of incredible the amount of work that goes into putting a book out into the world…the writing, research, editing, copy editing, proofing, design, publicity—everything!

It blows me away how many books come out each year, and how generous the act of reading is in this over-saturated market, where books have to compete with phones. Publishing a book is a hopeful act.

What’s next for you creatively?

Right now I’m back to my first love, fiction. I’m working on short stories. I plan to start a longer fiction project in the spring when my courses end.

What is the number one piece of advice you would offer to other writers?

Don’t wait for the perfect room or perfect time to write. Do it in all the in-between times and places. Keep writing, even if it’s a few sentences a day.

It’s like swimming laps. When I swim laps regularly, I can’t imagine a life where I don’t swim. When I don’t for a while, the water seems too cold and I’ll procrastinate getting in. It can be hard to enter writing again, when you’re out of the habit.

I also suggest locking your phone away in another room when you’re trying to write.

What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

Toronto writer Kate Cayley’s debut novel, Property (affiliate link*). I read it over the Christmas holidays. It’s a beautifully written, deeply intelligent book.

Meet the Author interviews are lightly edited for clarity.

Kasia's advice about not waiting for the perfect room or time to write is so resonant. "Perfection" will never arrive, so it's up to us to decide how we will make space for our creativity. Where does your creativity live?