New Montrealers: Rachel McCrum pursues poetry, romance in overseas move

Rachel McCrum was born in a small seaside town in Northern Ireland, but something about Montreal feels familiar.

"I've lived in Northern Ireland, Scotland during the independence referendum, and now Quebec," she said. "It's just been a series of places which are constantly in flux about their national and cultural identity and what that means."

She credits the city's diversity, as well as the influence of both English and French, with creating an interesting environment in which poets and artists can collaborate.

"I think Quebec writers would have great fun going to Scotland, and I definitely know the Scottish writers would have great fun coming over here," she said.

It was one such artistic collaboration, with another Quebec writer, that spurred McCrum to think about moving.

She hit it off with her fellow poet, and after two years of carrying on a long-distance relationship, she decided it was time to make the big move overseas.

"We talked, and I said, 'If I'm going to move, now's as good a time as any.'"

Here are excerpts from Daybreak's interview with McCrum, edited and condensed for clarity.

What do you like about Montreal?

It's the first time, I think in my life, I've lived somewhere so properly diverse.

I've moved around a bit, but really I've moved between Northern Ireland, a bit of time in the north of England, and Scotland and Edinburgh, which are wonderful places — but you don't see anywhere near the cultural diversity you see in Montreal.

You're moving from Portuguese neighbourhoods, to Italian, to Haitian, to Chinese, to the Jewish neighbourhoods. To me that's just eye-opening. That's exciting to me. It's exciting walking down the street and seeing that.

I think there's a generosity here. I've been lucky. I feel people have been very kind and very welcoming, and I appreciate that deeply.

What do you miss about home?

I miss the sea.

I've never been so far inland, and it freaks me out sometimes. This country just keeps going.

I miss my family — it's very far away, and even the time difference and arranging to talk to them is complex.

Quirks of language as well. Northern Ireland is hilarious in the way it inverts and mangles the English language in different ways, and I miss that from time to time.