Anna Porter is the author of seven books including Kastner’s Train: The True Story of Rezso Kasztner, Unknown Hero of the Holocaust (Douglas & McIntyre , 2007). It is the story of a Hungarian lawyer who negotiated with Nazi officials to aid in the forced emigration of Jewish citizens, thereby saving over fifty thousand lives from certain death. She began her career in New Zealand, working in a book store owned by a publishing company. Eventually Porter became the co-founder and CEO of Key Porter Books, a mid-sized publishing house based in Toronto. She is the mother of two journalists, and continues to serve on the boards of several national organizations including PEN Canada and SoulPepper Theatre. In 1991 Porter was awarded the Order of Canada in recognition of her efforts to promote Canadian literary talent abroad. She holds honourary doctorates from Ryerson University, St. Mary’s University and the University of Toronto. 

Interview by Jessica de Mello

Profile of Anna Porter

(October 2007)

Photo by Yanka Van der Kolk Imaging and Photography

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Growing up I saw a lot of bad and morally abhorrent behaviour, and I’ve always been interested in it. I grew up in a time when betrayals were everyday events. You never knew who you were talking to. People grew up much faster in those times. You couldn’t trust anyone. Also, where I grew up the Holocaust was not taught in school so when I found out about it, I was fascinated. I mean, what does a moral person do in that situation? What does on do when there are is a time of complete moral uncertainty? What do we now about Darfour? [Katsztner’s Train] is specific to its time, but the issue is timeless.

We tried to escape from Hungary on foot when I was six years old and we were caught. I spent eight months in jail with my mother, and she tried to be light-hearted about it all. I always wrote stories and poetry. It was either very funny or very dark, or both. When we arrived in New Zealand, I could not speak English. There was a convent boarding school which accepted one refugee per year, and they chose me. The nuns were kind enough to take me in, and they taught me to speak English; that’s about all I can really say for them. You can imagine, not having any religion and coming from a Communist country, that it was not easy. On the other hand, after escaping the revolution, learning English from nuns, and scrubbing toilets in a mental institution to pay for schooling afterwards, I’d say I was somewhat prepared for publishing; I was tough enough by that point.

I loved stories, and had always written poetry. At an early age my poems were published in Hungary. W.H. Auden always appealed to me … I did my Bachelors of Arts and Masters of Arts in English Literature at the University of Cantebury; my thesis explored issues of light and dark in American literature. Then I worked in a bookstore which was owned by a small press. I became a proofreader, and learned that it is a very detailed job. Then after graduation I went to England, which was the thing that people from New Zealand did. I slept in a hostel and stayed with a step-sister for a while. Just as I was becoming a little desperate I got a job in book sales, and then on the editorial staff at Cassell’s.

I wrote The Storyteller: Memory, Secrets, Magic and Lies for my children, to explain who my family was and what we had lived through. Then when I was fully working in publishing and my kids were growing up I wrote three more novels which were murder mysteries. They were dark, but they were meant to be amusing. They were also a great relief – there is nothing more satisfying than killing someone in a book when you are frustrated with them in real life.

I decided to stay in Toronto because of the people I met here, including Jack McClelland and my husband. Julian Porter (he’s a lawyer) saw my picture in Toronto Life Magazine and called me at my office. The picture was taken at a launch party for a book by Pierre Burton. Anyway, he called me and asked me to go for coffee and I said no. He called and called and provided references of friends and so forth, and so I finally said yes. We have two children and they’re great. I can’t say anything more about them; they are wonderful.

I became a managing editor at McClelland & Stewart and then finally launched Key Porter Books. It was the only thing I could do; I knew everything about publishing by that time. Like any other trade, you learn it a bit at a time. We started with a few books and it grew and grew. I am proud of publishing Jean Chretien’s book, and doing the publicity tour. That was a highlight and it was a top seller in both languages.

There are many styles in Canadian literature, not a single style. It's hard to see what Mordecai Richler's and Margaret Laurence's styles have in common - except, perhaps, clarity.

For the head of a publishing house to have a personal relationship with the authors is quite unusual, and I am proud that I became good friends with many of them. That’s something I learned from Jack McClelland. Leaving it was the most difficult thing.

AP: It is difficult to focus on something when you have a full time job. So first of all, I had the time required to dedicate to this project. My kids are grown up and I have resigned completely from Key Porter Books. It is now in the hands of a brilliant young man who is thirty years old, the perfect age to be running a publishing house.

These things kind of grow on you. I’ve always been interested in how the Holocuast could have happened, and what people chose to do in their individual lives when faced with the overwhelming moral problems. When I learned about this story, from my friend Peter Munk whose parents were saved by Kasztner, I was totally taken by it. I was beginning to attract this kind of story. There were so many contradicting accounts; the more I learned about this man the more I wanted to learn. Finally, I had to write the story all in one piece.

I am distracted by my past lives as a publisher - by people with manuscripts who would like help, who need to find a publisher, who do not know how to package their own work so it will be looked at by an agent, etc. All those years in the business have
accustomed me to being helpful when and where I can be. I am inspired by people's stories; written and spoken.

AP: I have tried really hard with this book. I don’t think I have ever tried so hard with anything in my whole life. I read more than 300 books in 3 languages, and traveled around the world to interview dozens of people for this book. It’s still not over; the American version requires one hundred additional footnotes which I am finishing now. The weight of this book has not yet lifted.

The story is also very controversial – even today people have a lot of problems with what he did and how he did it. I am sometimes invited to speak about him just so that the audience can yell at me. I expect some survivors whose families were murdered in Aushwitz will continue to attack Kasztner for not doing more. In Israel, after the war, he was sentenced to death for his actions and then the ruling was overturned years later.

I believe that I know more about him and what happened than anyone in the world, including his friends and family. He is a hero, and his actions can teach us something very valuable. I am very passionate about this, and it will be a great relief to have the book out in the world. The Canadian publication will give me a good idea of what to expect and then next year it will be published in Hungary, Germany and the United States. And the film rights have just been bought by the same man who did Shake Hands with the Devil. So I will be very happy to have it done. This is my seventh book, but it is my most important work, and may be my last.