GOODBYE CANADA150
Plenty of books for history and culture buffs came out of this anniversary year.
Glorious and Free (Astoria)
Covered in red and with red-edged papers, this is a visually striking book. Inside, a variety of “wildly creative” Canadians — from track star Andre De Grasse to poet and writer Katherena Vermette — talk about the country and their place in it, all accompanied with beautiful pictures. Profits from the sale of the book go to PEN Canada.
The Good Lands (Figure 1)
The land is one of the defining metaphors of this country, and our experience of it has shaped the way we see ourselves — and this book shows how. With paintings, photographs and stories from some of Canada’s most prominent artists, who “give form and meaning to both the land and the invisible landscape of the spirit, both the past and the future.” A beautiful exploration.
Dead Reckoning, Ken McGoogan (Patrick Crean Editions)
Ken McGoogan is a little bit obsessed with Arctic exploration — lucky for us. Four of his books about the subject have become bestsellers, including Lady Franklin’s Revenge. This latest one changes the prism slightly and looks at the search for the Northwest Passage, with the British only part of the story, and Indigenous people, fur trappers and others brought into the narrative.
Granta 141Canada (Granta)
Madeleine Thien and Catherine Leroux are guest editors of this powerhouse of an issue of the international magazine. The two Canadian writers picked a range of some of the best and newest voices from this country, giving a fresh perspective on how, exactly, we define this thing called CanLit, and how it’s changing. Original stories from Lisa Moore, Paul Seesequasis, Anakana Schofield, Rawi Hage and, yes, Margaret Atwood, with an entry titled “The Martians Claim Canada.”
That Dammed Beaver? (Exile Editions)
What exactly makes Canadians funny? This effort from long-standing independent press Exile Editions takes a slightly wry look at what makes us laugh and what makes us laughable. The volume features stories from across the years — Margaret Atwood, Paul Quarrington, Austin Clarke, as well as new pieces original to this collection from writers including Priscila Uppal and Marty Gervais.