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Why Kimmy Beach wrote a novel about a 100-foot tall wooden puppet

Nuala follows a giant wooden puppet, who cannot speak or move, but has consciousness and communicates by thought with her puppet master.
CBC Radio ·
Kimmy Beach's novel Nuala follows a 100-foot wooden puppet, who longs to meet beings like her. (Kirsten Koza/University of Alberta Press)

Poet and novelist Kimmy Beach talks about her latest book Nuala: A Fable. The book follows a giant wooden puppet, who cannot speak or move, but has consciousness and communicates by thought with her puppet master. 

This interview originally aired on Sept. 4, 2017.

Puppet fascination

"I had seen a video about five years ago about a giant puppet and her companions. I was mesmerized by it and started to search out giant puppets. I can't tell you how many there are in the world, they are everywhere. These puppets permeated my thoughts to the point where I couldn't think about anything else. I had to sit down and write something about it."

Nuala

"Nuala is 100 feet tall and is controlled by 40 or 50 puppeteers. Her consciousness grows as they take her around the city and show her things she wants to see. She can't move. She can't speak. I love the idea of this monstrous great being that has no agency, not even the power of speech."

Kimmy Beach's comments have been edited and condensed. 

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