Its telling that author Shyam Selvadurai initially had trouble finding the appropriate material for the irreverent Way Back When event at the University of Calgary, which will have Selvaduraiand fellow writersIan Williams, Aritha van Herk and Larissa Laireading embarrassing material they wrote as teenagers.

Its not that the Giller-shortlisted author wasnt game, but when he went into his parents basement in suburban Toronto to search for some of theturgid prose he wrote in his salad days, he discovered he had thrown most of itout.

I had something I had written my first year in Canada, explainsSelvadurai. Its an embarrassing play. Itsso embarrassing. I wont say anything else about it.

Itsnot surprising that Selvaduraithrew out most of the literature that didnt meet his exacting standards. The Sri Lankan-born writeris known for fussing over his writing until it is just right. It took him 13 years to write his fourth novel, 2013s ambitious Hungry Ghosts, which tells the story of a gay man of mixed Tamil and Sinhalese lineage who travels from Toronto back to Sri Lanka to visit his ailing grandmother.

He is an authorwhose art leaves him in a constant state of anxiety that requires him to think long and hard about the writing process. Which makes him a perfect candidate for U of Cs Distinguished Visiting Writer, a week-long engagement where the author will do variousevents.

He took some time to chat with the Calgary Herald.

Q: Obviously, Thursdays Way Back When at U of C is supposed to be fun, but do you hope that youngwriters in the audience might also be encouraged by the fact thatevenaward-winningauthors had to start somewhere andthat they often beganwith more ambition than skill?

A: (laughs) I hope so, but I dont really know. I think if you are meant to write you just go ahead and do it no matter what. Its something that burns in you, a burning passion. Those who are meant to keep writing will write. Thats my feeling about it.

Q: On Friday, you will be at the Esker Foundation in Inglewood to talk about Write to Reconcile project, which you founded in your native Sri Lanka as a way to help the country heal after decades of civil war. Why did you think creative writing would help heal?

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