Pearl was a strong-willed feisty woman that lived by her own rules; it seems that almost a hundred years later Nancy Jo Cullen does the same. Pearl was interesting subject matter for Nancy Jo Cullen who became enamoured with the callgirl-cowgirl.

By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Pearl was a strong-willed feisty woman that lived by her own rules; it seems that almost a hundred years later Nancy Jo Cullen does the same. A Canadian Madame with an extensive clientele, Pearl was the first of her kind in Cowtown, an endearment used for the city of Calgary, Alberta. More importantly, Pearl went from mother of whores to mother of mercy as she converted in her later life to Christianity and worked tirelessly to get women off the streets who she once knew as peers. Of course this may not be your natural inclination to think Pearl is good subject matter for a book of poetry, but that is exactly what Pearl was for Nancy Jo Cullen who became enamoured with the callgirl-cowgirl. What followed was an evocative, sultry and stark collection of poems. I had the opportunity to interview Nancy Jo Cullen to ask her about Pearl and poetry.

1. How did you find out about Pearl?

I first read about Pearl in Brian Brennan's book Scoundrels and Scallywags: Characters
from Alberta's Past. It was just a few pages but it completely captured my imagination.
I just didn't know how I was going to bring it to life.

2. What did you discover on your research that fascinated you about Pearl?

There is very little information about Pearl. Brian Brennan pretty much covered all of the information that's known about her; that in itself is interesting to me. Well, obviously the history of whores is not one that is well kept, yet she was a very successful business woman. One of the very interesting insights into her character I read was the comment by a police officer who dealt with her: Pearl always remained polite with the police. She had a job to do and she seemed to understand that they had a job to do; and so she was very civilized. Even after she quit the business if she ran into the constable on the street she would stop and chat with him; I love that aspect of her character. It speaks to (what I believe) is a great deal of emotional strength. Also one of her clients (this is from James Gray's Red Lights on the Prairies) commented on her tasteful decor. Apparently a guy could make himself believe he was in a regular parlour, not a whore house and since her clients were by and large the monied, respectable men I imagine this pretence was very important.

3. What makes Pearl such an interesting subject to write about?

Everything about Pearl is interesting to me. She was a renegade woman and I find that extremely compelling; she lived against all expectation. She wasn't young (by the standards of her day) when she arrived in Calgary and still she managed to do very well. She wasn't especially pretty either. However I expect sex trade has very little to do with looks. She was a professional business woman who managed to do very well with the limited options presented to women in her day. Her relationship with the police exemplifies her business like approach to the industry she worked in. All this makes me believe that she was very ordinary in a way. Then this conversion to Pentecostal Christianity - what a turn! Of course, it would be hard to imagine her in the mainstream churches such as the Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic churches -- those joints must have been filled with her clients. A crazy fire and brimstone salvationist would be much
more likely to sit next to a retired whore I guess. But at any rate I imagine her as a survivor, a woman with dignity and imagination and always a person willing to change directions (however drastic) when the time was right.

4. You somewhat write a biography of Pearl’s life from a first person point of view. How did you get yourself into that character for this book of poems?

Well, I did a lot of reading with respect to what was going on in Calgary at the time and so I had a sense of the time and place. I also read a lot of contemporary writing by sex trade workers. I looked at old photos and just let my mind follow whatever trajectory the photo sent them on. I believe that people have similar emotional lives. I mean we all experience joy, loss, regret, anger, etc. So I just let myself go there in my imagination and began to write. At the same time I wanted to insert a very contemporary feminist politic into the book. Why are women whores? What makes a paid whore different from a socialite with a detestable husband? These are the ideas under the writing. I don't want to bang folks over the head. I want to make a good story but I just put myself there: and I wrote.

5. You seem to make Pearl a very real person, both good and bad qualities, and regrets at times, and no regrets at others; how do you make someone from history that three-dimensional to readers?

I'm not sure how to describe how to make someone from history three-dimensional to readers. I think it's important to remember that people didn't just discover sex and become sexually active; that humans have been loving and harming one another from the get go. I've loved, I've harmed and been harmed. I've had sex I should have said no to and just about every person has done something they'd rather not do for money. These experiences that we carry are universal (pretty much). As a writer I just stayed there and did my best to keep out of lectures and judgement - I wanted people to read the book and think of Pearl then as someone not too far from them.

6. The Glenbow Museum in Calgary, where Pearl lived most of her life, is showcasing Mavericks of the West in a new exhibit; how is Pearl a maverick that Canadians could be proud to consider a part of history?

Pearl was an entrepreneur. A classy woman who understood the parameters of the industry she was involved in. Options for women in the early 20th century were seriously limited. Pearl was in business for many years before women were even considered people. In order to make a reasonable living she had to go outside the bounds of law to provide a service that was in great demand, and she made fine work of it. I think that’s extremely admirable.

7. I suggest in my review of the book that the story of Pearl already seems well formatted through your poetry, to be a blueprint for a screenplay; would you be interested in developing the life of Pearl into a script? If you could choose an actress to play Pearl in a film, who would it be?

Well I have a background in theatre and in many ways I did write Pearl to be performed although I wasn't thinking of a screenplay but rather of live theatre. I wrote in with my friend, Laura Parken in mind; she's a great actor here in Calgary. So yes, I would be interested in developing the book into a script. If it were to be made into a screenplay I don't know who I'd cast. I do believe that as a stage play Pearl should be played by an actor who is at the very least in her mid 40s and could be any age up from there; I suppose the same is true of a screenplay.

8. What is the appeal for you in using poetry as a medium of expression?

I love the condensed language of poetry. It's crazy I suppose to stick to something that so few people read but I love the way poetry is about finding the perfect word and expression and letting go of the rest. It's rich and it fills me with pleasure to work in such a precise way. I don't want to make it sound like a lovely, touchy feely thing. It's hard work and involves many, many rewrites but when it finally works and I know it, it is such fun.

9. Where is Canadian poetry at this time? How accessible is it to Canadians and what should Canadians be looking for when searching for home grown poetry?

Canadian poetry is all over the place. I think we have some of the best poets going and there are all kinds of stylists writing from intense language poets to old school formalists. Canadians should go to their local, privately owned, book loving store when trying to find books to read. It will be very hard to find local poetry in your local chapters but not at your local independent book store. The public library is a great place to start as well as they carry poetry by Canadians, lots of it. Canadian poetry also runs the gamut of accessibility in terms of reading and I think poetry in general is pretty inaccessible in terms of buying. Few book stores carry many titles and few
publishers print many titles.

10. What are you working on now?

Right now I am working on some poems that are very confessional and personal. These are some poems I felt I had to write that deal directly with events in my life but I don't know how big a project it will be. I am also in the planning stages of a longer collection that will follow a fictional trajectory in the manner of Pearl.

11. Who are your favourite authors?

Lisa Robertson is pretty amazing. Erin Moure is always so interesting. Robert Kroetsch. Carol Ann Duffy (UK) I'm loving Anne Carson right now and I always love the poetry of Bronwen Wallace, especially her last book Keep that Candle Burning Bright - it's out of print. K.I. Press.

To read the AnEVibe review of Pearl by Nancy Jo Cullen click here