Canadian Writers

Canada is a young multicultural country with many influences and cultural backgrounds. Canadian literature is often divided into sub-categories: geographical, gender-orientated and period orientated. One can find anthologies of Eastern Canadian Literature, French-Canadian Literature, Canadian Women's Literature or Post-modern Canadian Literature. However there are other ways of defining Canadian Literature.

Main Features of Canadian Literature

One characteristic feature of Canadian literature is satire. Serious matters are often described with irony and a sense of humour. This satire is especially present in anti-American texts, which are not as rare as one would think. However Canadian writers do not have a superior attitude concerning other countries. Instead of an ill-placed sense of patriotism, they prefer to laugh at themselves and are not afraid to point out what is wrong in their society. The hero is commonly a weak person, always treated badly, who manages to overcome all kinds of dark destinies or problems. An oft-used theme is the dichotomy between urban and rural ways of life. The country is often idealized, while the city is portrayed as a breeding place for evil. The theme of man vs. nature is evident.

French Canadian Literature

French Canadian Literature developed in French Quebec in the 19th century. The first works were written in accordance with Catholic morality, but these works have no long-term interest in the realm of literature. In the 1930s the patterns changed: the goal was to write works with a psychological and sociological basis. Mid-century, French Canadian Literature experienced a period of expansion, influenced by universal concerns, such as the Second World War and the beginnings of industrialization in the 1950s.

Prominent Canadian Authors

There are a few Canadian authors who deserve our attention, not only for being internationally acclaimed, but also for having been awarded international prizes, such as the 'Booker Prize' and the 'Canada Governor General's Award'.

LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY (1874–1942) was born in the small rural village of Clifton, on the north shore of Prince Edward Island, Canada. Her mother died when she was two years old, and so she grew up with her maternal grandparents. Although she had been writing for many years, she wasn't able to make a living from writing until 1898, by writing and publishing short stories and poems in American and Canadian magazines. In 1911 MONTGOMERY married a minister of the Cavendish Presbyterian Church. She died at the age of 67, on 24 April 1942, and is buried in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island.

MONTGOMERY came from a family of storytellers, especially on her mother's side. At nine she wrote her first poem, called Autumn. In November 1890 MONTGOMERY wrote a poem called On Cape Leforce and sent it to the Island newspaper The Charlottetown Patriot, which published it in December 1890 when she was sixteen years old.

MONTGOMERY turned to prose and a few years later began to write Anne of Green Gables. She finished the book in October 1905, but it wasn't until 1907 that she was able to find a publisher, L.C. Page Co. in Boston. It was an immediate success and within three months it had gone through four editions. MONTGOMERY was urged by her publisher to write a sequel. Anne of Avonlea was published in the Autumn of 1909. Kilmeny of the Orchard appeared in 1910 and The Story Girl in 1911.

Just as MONTGOMERY feared, she was haunted by the character of Anne Shirley for a long time and wrote four more books about her. But then MONTGOMERY became tired of Anne and felt that she ought to create a new heroine. She did so in 1921 when she started to write Emily of New Moon. Emily Climbs followed in 1925 and Emily's Quest in 1927. In 1926 The Blue Castle was published. In 1931 she wrote a book for adults, entitled A Tangled Web. After she had written two books about Pat Gardiner (Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat), she returned to Anne with Anne of Windy Poplars in 1936 and Anne of Ingleside in 1939. MONTOGOMERY continued to write, but in 1940 she had a nervous breakdown from which she never fully recovered. She died on 24 April 1942.

MARGARET ATWOOD (* 1939) was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in 1939 and, after living in several countries around the world, she returned to Toronto, where she still lives.
ATWOOD's writing focuses on feminist issues often framed in futuristic or unreal worlds. Her fiction also points to Canada's fate and Canadian themes. Besides fiction, she has also written poetry, short stories and children's literature. Her best-known book is the Handmaid's Tale (1986), which deals with the consequences of an extreme patriarchal future for women. Novels like The Edible Woman (1969), The Blind Assassin (winner of the 'Booker Prize' (2000) and the 'Governor General's Award'), and Oryx and Crake (2003) are internationally acclaimed. Of her poetry, The Circle Games (1965) and True Stories (1981) are best known.

THOMAS KING (* 1943) was born in Sacramento, Canada, in 1943. He is of Cherokee, German and Greek descent. KING is currently Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Guelph, Toronto. KING published his first novel, Medicine River, in 1989. With this he became an important voice in Canadian Literature. In 1992 KING published a collection of short stories (One Good Story, That One), in which he mixes humour, traditional native mythology and contemporary issues. One story plays with the idea of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS discovering America, A Coyote Columbus Story. It was transformed into a children's book that was nominated for a 'Governor General's Award'.
He was also nominated for this award in 1993 for his second novel, Green Grass, Running Water. In 1999 he published Truth and Bright Water, which focuses on the oral tradition of the indigenous population in its form and style. During the nineties THOMAS KING also wrote a series of comic radio scripts for the Canadian Broadcast Company CBC.