Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
FEATURED POET: Jan Zwicky
Guige
(c) Jan Zwicky
There is a sound
that is a whole of many parts,
a sorrowless transparency, like luck,
that opens in the centre of a thing.
An eye, a river, fishheads, death,
gold in your pocket, and a half-wit
son: the substance of the world
is light and blindness and the
measure of our wisdom is our love.
Our diligence: ten fingers and
a healthy set of lungs. practice
ceaselessly: there is
one art: wind
in the open spaces
grieving, laughing
with us, saying
improvise.
----------------------------------------------
(From, Practising Bach. Published in Vallum 6:1, 2008.)
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
CANADIAN LITERATURE IN THE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
CANADIAN LITERATURE IN THE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
With the recent
announcement of Canadian short-fiction writer Alice Munro as this year’s Nobel Laureate
in literature, many are wondering what this holds for the perception of Canada
as a literary nation.
Certain nations
have an incontestable status as literary powerhouses and no matter their
country of origin, little evidence is needed to convince most avid readers of
the literary importance of countries such as: the U.S, U.K, France, Russia,
Ireland, etc. However, many less populous nations are overshadowed by these
literary behemoths and Canada is no exception.
Asking them who
their favourite Canadian author is will solicit from many Canadians only blank
stares and umms and uhhs, before stumbling upon the names of Atwood or Richler.
Even within Canada extensive knowledge of the Canadian literary canon is
largely limited to those involved in it and despite the efforts of the Canadian
literary community and the government to promote Canadian literature, most
Canadians read far fewer domestic works than international ones.
Canadian prose and
poetry has long been overshadowed, but change may be in sight. By receiving the
Nobel Prize, Munro has been internationally recognized as one of the most
important living writers and as interest in her work grows so too may interest
in Canadian literature as a whole. Munro’s lifetime achievement has put
Canadian literature in the headlines and brought with it the hope that it will
be seen there far more often.
- Connor Mellegers
Intern
Vallum:
Contemporary Poetry
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