A look at Kingston’s Return author Fimo Mitchell
Fimo Mitchell
By Krysta Celestine
Fimo Mitchell wanted to be a news anchor. When the Concordia graduate landed an internship with a well known television network in Washington, DC, he was sorely disappointed. “It ruined my passion,” he says. “I felt like a lot of the (news) stories spoke to the middle class and upper class environments. I realized that the news didn’t really speak to regular folk. I always had story ideas, but they’d get shot down all the time.”
Disillusioned and wanting to escape what he calls the “North American reality”, Fimo headed to China, where he lived for nine years teaching English as a second language. Ironically, it was in China where he realized his passion. “I went out there alone. I had no one to talk to, so I began to write,” he says. What started out as a few chapters turned into his first book, Lost and Found, which took three years to write. “I never went to China with the intent of writing. I wanted to escape. In a communist country, I became free.”
Fast forward ten years later, and Fimo Mitchell is now the author of his second book, Kingston’s Return, published earlier this year. Kingston’s Return is the story about friendship and forgiveness and the pursuit of passion in life.
The novel revolves around Kingston Yearwood, who, like Mitchell, is a black Canadian who has just returned to Montreal after living in China for years. “Kingston’s changed. The people he knew have changed. How does he reconcile that?” says the author. “It’s an introspective piece about passion, living the life and not letting the fire in you die.” As for the inspiration behind the novel, Fimo likens the book as a “soundtrack” to Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece, “What’s Going On?”
While the author is quick to remind his audience that Kingston’s Return is a work of fiction, he does acknowledge that some elements of the protagonist’s life mirror his own. “There’s a bit of me in every character. You can only write what you feel. Clearly I’m writing from experience, but it’s fiction in the sense that it is a story that has been created.” says Fimo.
“When I read it now, I look at some of the things that the characters go through and it’s similar to the Occupy Toronto and Occupy Montreal movements of today. It’s interesting how fiction can become reality.”While his first book was hip, young, urban, sex and action packed, Kingston’s Return is almost devoid of these elements. “There’s no sex in Kingston’s Return. It’s less about action and more about vulnerability and self-interrogation of characters. I didn’t think that anyone would appreciate it,” he admits. Thankfully, the feedback has been great. Published by a small company in Philadelphia, Kingston’s Return has received great feedback from Americans, which has surprised him.
So what’s next for Fimo Mitchell, Journalism graduate-turned author? He’s putting the finishing touches on his third novel, AI in China, a book that he’s been writing for three years. “It hasn’t come out yet because there are brutally honest people in my life who told me that they didn’t think that it was that great,” he laughs. He hopes that Kington’s Return will to take to the musical stage in 2013.
As for the immediate future, Mr. Mitchell heads to Toronto’s A Different Book List on Saturday, November 5 at 2 pm for a book reading of Kingston’s Return. For more information on Fimo Mitchell, visit www.fimomitchell.com.
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