Carleigh Baker is an nêhiyaw âpihtawikosisân/Icelandic writer who lives as a guest on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ peoples. Her debut story collection, Bad Endings, won the City of Vancouver Book Award, and was a finalist for a BC Book Prize, an Emerging Indigenous Voices Award, and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Award.
Last Woman is a blistering collection of short fiction that is bracingly relevant, playfully irreverent, and absolutely unforgettable. With equal parts compassion and critique, sharp wit and boundless empathy, the stories delve into fear for the future, intergenerational misunderstandings, and the complexities of belonging.
Interview by Nikki Hillman
Nikki Hillman (NH): What inspired you to write Last Woman, and can you share any particular experiences or influences that shaped the stories in this collection?
Carleigh Baker (CB): The stories in Last Woman are inspired by how hard it is to be a human in this day and age, but I hope readers feel seen and understood rather than poked in the eye. I mean, we all know it’s rough out there, so I’d rather stand with you than shout at you. My influences are masters of social and environmental dark humour, T.C. Boyle and Douglas Adams, and most importantly, Eden Robinson.
NH: Your characters are richly developed and diverse. How do you approach creating and developing such multi-faceted characters, and are any of them based on real people or personal experiences?
CB: Most of the characters are at least a little bit inspired by real people, or sometimes just overheard conversations between strangers. But I usually build conglomerate characters from multiple sources, so nobody is too recognizable on the page. People are wonderful, complex chaos machines.
NH: Last Woman touches on various themes, such as identity, resilience, and the human condition. What key messages or themes did you aim to convey through this collection, and what do you hope readers will take away from your stories?
CB: I did think a lot about ageing, for obvious reasons. I’m getting old, my parents are getting old, and I spend a lot of time worrying about them. I also wanted to look at relationships between women from various angles. Power struggles, misunderstandings, platonic love. I hope readers will feel like their human imperfections are forgivable, and that we’re not alone in our anxieties.
NH: Were there any specific challenges you faced while writing Last Woman? How did you overcome them, and did these challenges influence the final outcome of the stories?
CB: This book came about after a long fallow period where I was too worried about the state of the world to do anything. I took to my bed and watched a lot of YouTube videos. A lot of those YouTube videos influenced the stories, particularly Billionaires and Burial Ground. When I finally came back to writing, I wrestled with self-doubt—like maybe I’d forgotten how to do it. I mostly have the people around me—my husband, my therapist, and my editors to thank for overcoming that.
NH: How have readers responded to Last Woman? Are there any reactions or interpretations that have surprised you? Or given you a new perspective on your work?
CB: Folks seem to like it, and that’s a relief. I took some risks with this one—not cool, experimental risks. CanLit generally doesn’t know what to do with loud, slapstick humour, particularly from women, so that was a risk. So far, the thing I find most interesting is the reaction to the Billionaires stories. They’re soap boxy—which is to say they are unsubtly packed with my own cynical opinions. That’s generally considered a no-no in fiction writing. We’re supposed to be sneakier, but I thought unsubtle times called for unsubtle measures. There was some critical pushback from reviewers, but most readers say the Billionaires stories are their favourite.