CanLitBooks

(Talonbooks, 1981 pb; photo of Peterson in early Vancouver East Cultural Centre production; cover credits: Glen E. Erickson and Thomas Hayes)

(left: scarce–the revival production on DVD; Soulpepper Theatre Co./Union Pictures; right: rare double-signed LP, Tapestry, 1979; design: Mike Bowness, cover photo: Glen Erikson )

(signed Penguin, 2006 pb)

Eric Neal Peterson (1946-) and John (MacLachlan) Gray (1946-) are the celebrated authors and performers of the musical which won the 1982 Governor General’s Award for Drama. The play was lauded by the great U.S. director Mike Nichols which led to some south-of-the-border tours, even getting to Broadway. Not bad for a play that originated in Ottawa. The revived version of the play was later recorded on DVD (see above).

Peterson was born in Indian Head, SK and has been a long-time stage and TV actor in such shows as Corner Gas (Oscar), Seeds, and  Street Legal. His friend and collaborator John Gray was born in Ottawa and raised in NS. He worked with the famous Theatre Passe Muraille and wrote and composed other stage musical such as 18 Wheels, Rock and Roll, and Don Messer’s Jubilee. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000.

The comedian and comedy writer Brent Butt (1966-) was born in Tisdale, SK and based his popular Corner Gas series in rural SK. He started his career on the Yuk Yuk’s comedy circuit and later also wrote the Hiccups tv series.

(a knockout novel–scarce signed 1982 Macmillan dj; jacket design: Catherine Wilson/Sunkisst Graphics)

(left: rare 1986 Norstar Home Video VHS starring Martha Henry pictured on right: cover of 1986 Macmillan pb)

Joan (Louise) Barfoot 1946-) was born and raised in Owen Sound, ON and now lives in London, ON. She worked for several magazines and has written 11 novels including Abra. Now an established novelist, her work has been compared to that of Atwood and Shields.

(signed 1972 Sono Nis Press dj; design: Morriss Printing Co.)

Born in Hoheneggelsen, Germany, Andreas Schroeder (1946-) eventually emigrated to Canada in 1951, and has lived in Roberts Creek and Abbotsford, BC. Schroeder is a fiction writer, columnist, critic, filmmaker, and translator who has also worked for the Vancouver Province and CBC. He has been called the ‘Godfather of BC’s non-fiction boom’.

(rare signed 1985 Oberon pb; cover: Herzl Kashetsky)

Born in Kingston, ON, Bronwen Wallace (1945-1989) wrote poetry, stories, and essays. Interested in social activism, she founded a woman’s bookstore in 1977 and worked at a women’s shelter. Later she was a writer-in-residence at University of Western ON. Wallace’s promising career was cut short by cancer in 1989. I selected her poem “Splitting It Up” for Inside Poetry, 2nd. ed. (Harcourt)

(1973 McClelland & Stewart pb; cover: John de Visser)

Poet and singer Sid Marty (1944-) was raised in Medicine Hat and Calgary, AB. Educated in Montreal, he went on to work as a prairies and park warden and wrote 5 non-fiction books including his popular Men for the Mountains. His writing comes out of his experience and his topics include family, park rangers, cowboys, homesteaders, mountaineers, and conservation. I selected his humorous poem “Three Bears” for the 1st ed. of Inside Poetry (Harcourt).

(left: scarce McClelland & Stewart, 1991 cassettes cover: “Hull Rivetting” by Frederick B. Taylor (Canadian War Museum, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Natural Museums of Canada; right: book & CD 2000 Vintage Canada/Random House)

(rare signed poster, Vintage Canada, 1993, in my study)

(Philip) Michael Ondaatje (1943-) was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He arrived in Canada in 1967 and attended Queen’s before starting out as a poet (Rat Jelly, 1973) and won the Governor General Award for poetry in 1970 for his experimental Collected Works of Billy the Kid. He won more GG awards for There’s a Trick with a Knife I’m Learning to Do (poetry), and for the novels The English Patient (1992),  Anil’s Ghost (2007), and Divisadero (2007). He is currently tied with Hugh MacLennan for winning 5 Governor General Awards. His English Patient book became an acclaimed movie winning 9 Academy Awards.  In 1970, Ondaatje also wrote the first critical study book of Leonard Cohen’s early work.

(inscribed 1993 HarperCollins pb; cover: Alan Jones)

(left: signed 2005 HarperCollins dj; jacket: “Flight Path” by Helen Hoy; right: 2004 CBC Audio CD; art: the talented Jane Ash Poitras)

Thomas King (1943-) is a satirical novelist, short story writer, scriptwriter, and photographer born in Sacramento, California of Cherokee and Greek descent. He is the Associate professor of Native Literature and Creative Writing at U of Guelph. His Dead Dog Café (1997-2000) was a popular CBC Radio show in which he played himself, Tom. His humorous books include Green Grass, Running Water (1993), One Good Story, That One (1993), Medicine River (1990), Truth and Bright Water (1999), and A Short History of Indians in Canada (2005). He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2004.

(double-signed McGill-Queen’s U Press, 1970 dj); illustrations–Germaine Arnaktauyok)

Born in Inukjuak, QC., Markoosie Patsauq (1942-) lives at Resolute Bay, NWT. He was the first Inuit to obtain a flying license and flew charter flights in and out of the Arctic for years. Beginning in 1978, he became an administrator of public services for Quebec.

(Red Deer Press, 2000 pb; cover design: Duncan Campbell, photo: Edward Cavell)

Jon Whyte (1941-1991) was born in Banff and lived there in a log cabin except from 1956-1968, while he was studying at U of A and Stanford. Influenced by Peter and Catherine Whyte (of Banff’s Whyte Museum fame), he was a contrarian and poet ahead of his time. Whyte was also a filmmaker, bookseller, publisher, local historian, and museum-keeper. I used one of his interesting concrete poems, “I’ve Always Lived across the Street” in my Inside Poetry, 2nd. ed. opus (Harcourt).

(signed 1969 Macmillan pb, GG winner for poetry)

(eds. Margaret Atwood & Barry Callaghan; Exile, 1993 & 1994 pbs.; photos: John McCombe Reynolds)

(left: rare 1972 Oberon dj; photo: J.M. Reynolds; design: Michael Macklem; right: rare CBC, 1972 LP)

(recommended excellent bio–1995 HarperCollins dj; design: Linda Gustafson/Counterpunch; photo: John McCombe Reynolds)

Born in Toronto, Gwendolyn (Margaret) MacEwen (1941-1987) grew up in a dysfunctional family, but became a gifted poet and fiction-writer who wrote about dream, magic, mystery, history, and romance. She was published at age 15 in Canadian Forum magazine and grew up in the age of bohemian coffee-houses.  At 5′, 4″ tall, she was memorable-looking with huge blue eyes and sometimes wore Egyptian eye shadow.

Her Afterworlds poetry book won a Governor General Award in 1987 posthumously. Biographer Rosemary Sullivan’s book, pictured above, won a GG award in 1995. The poet, tragically, died too young from alcohol self-abuse and a subsequent heart attack. A Toronto park named after her, featuring a bronze bust, honours her today.  I chose two of her playful poems, “Past and Future Ghosts” and “You Held Out the Light” for Inside Poetry, 2nd. ed. (Harcourt).