Debut novel blends wartime history with non-binary love story

Growing up in a small Ontario town, Loghan Paylor dreamed of becoming a hero from one of their beloved books—a Jedi Knight, perhaps, or a dragon rider. Today, the Writer’s Studio (TWS) graduate might be doing something even more powerful. In their debut novel, the queer and trans author has imagined a free and hopeful world where people can truly be who they’re meant to be.

Loghan’s The Cure for Drowning was released in early 2024 by Penguin Random House Canada. Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, the book combines historical fiction and magical realism in a richly layered love story that centres queer and non-binary characters in original ways. The epic novel has been hailed as “deeply moving” by the Miramichi Reader and “a stirring page-turner” by the Vancouver Sun.  

“It’s been wonderful to see the explosion of queer literature and trans literature over the last decade or so,” says Loghan. “But I think there’s a trend in media to focus on more tragic and more upsetting aspects of queer and transgender lives. When I set out to write this book, I wanted a book where queer family and the joy of it are celebrated.”

While Loghan has loved writing and telling stories since childhood, their road to becoming an author was far from direct. They first studied creative writing at Concordia University, but after moving to B.C., finding time to write became trickier. To pay the bills, they found themselves taking on an eclectic variety of jobs—dog trainer, retail manager, historical interpreter for a heritage site.

“I ended up pretty far from where I’d intended to be,” they laugh. “When I heard about TWS, I saw it as a way to get me back on track, back to what I was passionate about.”

Loghan was drawn to the part-time program because it would allow them to juggle a day job with their writing. At the time, tuition wasn’t easy to come by, they admit, but ultimately, it was a worthwhile investment.

“It reignited the spark and made me realize this is what I need to be doing, this is what I want to be doing, and I’m ready to rearrange my life to make it happen.”

Aside from the encouraging support of the program’s mentors and the chance to experiment in different genres, Loghan says they appreciated participating in workshops with writers of diverse ages and backgrounds: “It was an extremely valuable learning experience to see how different readers and writers would respond to my work. It prepared me for what it’s really like in the book space once you get published.”

After graduating from TWS in 2016, Loghan gave up their full-time job to begin their MFA at UBC and continue their writing journey. The Cure for Drowning took six years to complete, from early scribblings through countless hours of historical research, to final manuscript. Given the lengthy creative process, Loghan was surprised by the quick path to publication. They heard back from a publisher within just six weeks of pitching the manuscript.

Although Loghan’s work had appeared in Prairie Fire and Room Magazine previously, nothing compared to seeing their own book in print. 

“Shortly after it was published,” recalls Loghan, “I walked into an Indigo store and saw about 30 copies of my book, all down one shelf. I think I started crying in the middle of the aisle!”

Perhaps even more gratifying has been the feedback they’ve received from readers. “I’m just blown away by how overwhelmingly positive the response to this book has been,” says Loghan.

“Every time I go to a signing or other event, I have people tell me they read my book and really saw themselves in it, or they learned something new. It’s just everything I’ve hoped for.”

By Kim Mah