A Window into Canadian Literature

My cousin A., who like me is originally from Canada but who moved to the United States much more recently than I, was kind enough to pick up a copy of the Autumn 2011 issue of “BC Bookworld” for me the last time she was in Canada. (Our extended family is from the Vancouver area in British Columbia.) With the exception of books by established authors such as Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro, much of Canadian literature is not published or reviewed in the U.S. I treasure, and still feel connected to, Canadian literature, especially fiction (see, for example, my 3/19/10 post about Canadian writers, my 2/20/10 post on Carol Shields, and my 7/22/10 post on Alice Munro), and try to find and read it when I can, but it is not easy to do so. So it is a delight for me to have this small, very up-to-date window into Canadian literature. There are articles on writers I know about, such as Jane Rule, but many more on writers I have not heard of, let alone read. To name just a few of these mentioned in this issue: novelists Esi Edugyan and Bertrand Sinclair, poets Susan Musgrave and Clea Roberts, short story writer Jack Hodgins, and memoirist Willow Yamauchi (her “Adult Child of Hippies” sounds intriguing!). I hope to find and read work by at least some of these. Thank you, A.!