Véronique Darwin: This Is My Dream, and I’m Living It
In this interview, author Véronique Darwin discusses the importance of connection with her interconnected short story collection, Mom Camp.
Véronique Darwin has published stories in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern and PRISM International and was runner-up for the 2024 Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph, where she completed a mentorship with Sheila Heti. Her humor pieces and essays about writing have appeared in Geist, Points in Case, carte blanche, and Porter House Review, and she has written book reviews for EVENT, The Fiddlehead, and the Literary Review of Canada. She writes, teaches, and makes theatre with friends in the mountain town of Rossland, British Columbia. Follow her on Instagram.
In this interview, Véronique discusses the importance of connection with her interconnected short story collection, Mom Camp, her hope for readers, and more.
Name: Véronique Darwin
Book title: Mom Camp
Publisher: Assembly Press
Release date: May 5, 2026 (Canada)
Genre/category: Interconnected short story collection; philosophical; feminist; humorous
Elevator pitch: Jeanne checks into a hotel and discovers all the guests are her: sister, friend, mother, artist, server, lover. These stories and novella—about artmaking, renovations, mushroom trips and bike trips—explore the ways in which women of all ages negotiate identity through relationship.
What prompted you to write this book?
I kept writing stories with similar desires and wondered, If placed in a collective, how would my characters support and speak to one another? Rather than thinking of it as a collection of all the stories I’ve written so far, this could be read as a fragmented novel that builds momentum by stacking the women I’ve been one on top of the other and seeing what shape emerges.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The frame narratives—a surreal hotel and actual writing retreats I’ve attended—provide entry points into which to descend (or ascend) into the stories. The shared motivations of my characters and what these meant for the structure of the text clarified greatly during the intricate and life-giving editing process with Leigh Nash at Assembly Press. She trusted that this weird book of vibrant, voicey, but often messy stories had something intelligent and important to say and she helped me ventriloquize it.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
As this is my first published book, everything has been new and exciting, though I’m rolling along well because the small, energetic, and frankly incredible team at Assembly Press set me up for success from the start. Honestly, I’ve enjoyed everything; this is my dream and I’m living it.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I’m shocked by how in depth an edit Leigh was willing to offer. I got to know my book and my writing style in a whole new way through her rigorous and always generous queries. To be trusted this much as a debut writer … isn’t it dangerous? I’m so powerful now.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
I hope there’s room for new appreciation of the short story as vehicle for autofiction; in this case, the stories aren’t my lived experience, but those of a central first-person "I” narrator. The novella that closes the collection digs into this a little more and maybe cycles you back into the start of the book to question whether everything is always a little more connected than you realize. And of course, I want readers to see themselves and their friends and mothers and sisters and daughters in this book—that’s why the formal interconnectedness is so important: We all are!
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Dream big and weird and then find the people who are dreaming bigger and weirder. Read them and write with them.
