From a Speaking Place

Writings from the First Fifty Years of Canadian Literature

edited by W. H. New; Beaudoin Rejean & Susan Fisher

tagged: canadian

Description

Which famous Canadian poet is a "gunman"? When did Bangalore move to Saskatchewan? Why is poetry a painting? a crime? What rare advice can you find in Romance novels? Who sings with the frogs? And what ever did happen to Pauline? Answering these and other questions, From a Speaking Place invites you into a conversation about what it means to be a reader and a writer in Canada. This Canada - this aurora-capped northern land - speaks: of Inuit voices and Al Purdy's "rock gothic," of Bombay and Trinidad, of "great traditions," urban findings, laughter, Acadia, nation, translation, theatre, exploration, life stories and more, from official languages and le monologue quebecois to Marshall McLuhan and "Hollywood Not." From a Speaking Place brings together 63 essays, notes, and interviews from 50 years of contributions to Canadian Literature, Canada's foremost journal on the country's writers and writing. You'll find here such stylish writers as Margaret Atwood, Gérard Bessette, George Bowering, George Elliott Clarke, Wayde Compton, Basil Johnston, Janice Kulyk Keefer, Thomas King, Margaret Laurence, George Ryga, Andreas Schroeder, Audrey Thomas, Tom Wayman, Rudy Wiebe, and George Woodcock. Illustrated by George Kuthan's woodcuts, the book celebrates Canadian Literature's 50th anniversary in 2009. It also, by re-encountering in this new context what contributors have said over five decades, listens again to why their ideas matter.

About the Authors

W. H. New

William New is one of Canada's outstanding men of letters: well known for his children's books — Vanilla Gorilla, Dream Helmet and Llamas in the Laundry — his adult poetry, his writings on Canadian and postcolonial literature, and his literary criticism (some 30 volumes). He is on the editorial board of the New Canadian Library and the editor of the monumental Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada (U of Toronto Press). For many years he was the editor of the journal Canadian Literature, and he is presently on the board of the New Canadian Library. He is Professor Emeritus of English and Canadian literature at the University of B.C. He lives in Vancouver.

Beaudoin Rejean

Susan Fisher

Susan R. Fisher teaches in the Department of English at the University of the Fraser Valley.

Contributor Notes

William New is one of Canada's outstanding men of letters: well known for his children's books - Vanilla Gorilla, Dream Helmet and Llamas in the Laundry - his adult poetry, his writings on Canadian and postcolonial literature, and his literary criticism (some 30 volumes). He is on the editorial board of the New Canadian Library and the editor of the monumental Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada (U of Toronto Press). For many years he was the editor of the journal Canadian Literature,and he is presently on the board of the New Canadian Library. He is Professor Emeritus of English and Canadian literature at the University of B.C. He lives in Vancouver.