David Gilmour on his novel A perfect Night to go to China #14

Acclaimed Canadian novelist and critic David Gilmour was born in London, Ontario in 1949. His first novel, Back on Tuesday, was published in 1986, followed by How Boys See Girls in 1991 and An Affair with the Moon in 1993. Lost Between Houses, published in 1999, was nominated for the Trillium Book Award. Sparrow Nights, his fifth novel, was published by Random House to rave reviews. His latest novel A Perfect Night to go to China won Canada’s 2005 Governor General's Award for Fiction. I met with David in the foyer of the Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa the morning after he received his award from the Governor General at Rideau Hall.

We talk about winning it, sex, suicide, kids, the perfect woman, wearing spandex at discos and the fact that for him, conquering for women and affirmation are not the same thing.

He is a candid, funny, sensitive man worth listening to, plus, in my opinion, Canada's best novelist. 

Hope the background Christmas carols, and what sounds like a flock of little tweety birds, aren’t too distracting…