Canadian literature comes alive!
York U. students & public treated to readings, musings by famous Canadian writers

TORONTO, September 26, 2000 -- Students in York Professor John Unrau's first-year English class will be given the unique opportunity to quiz the 12 authors who pen the very prose they are studying during the Canadian Writers in Person series, running from September 2000 through to March 2001.

Unrau's innovative course will include public readings and discussions with such Canadian literary luminaries as Guy Vanderhaeghe, Neil Bissoondath, Austin Clarke, Lorna Crozier, Alistair MacLeod and Katherine Govier. The 75 students in the course will read at least one book by each of the authors, and the classes will alternate between a lecture/discussion on each book and authors' readings.

"The purpose of the course is to introduce students and the public to some of the best contemporary Canadian fiction and poetry and to encourage them to respond to the literature in a thoughtful way," says Unrau. "Hearing the authors read their words will add a dimension to the experience that is unavailable from the printed word alone."

The series is sponsored by York's Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, with the support of the Canada Council, the Writers' Union of Canada, and a dozen other benefactors.

The following public readings will be held Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in Stedman Lecture Hall "D" at York University, 4700 Keele Street:

Guy Vanderhaeghe reading: Man Descending (McClelland & Stewart, 1982) Sept. 28
Vanderhaeghe, a native of Saskatchewan, is a full-time writer and former teacher. His book, The Englishman's Boy (McClelland & Stewart, 1996), won the Governor General's Award, the Saskatchewan Book Award, and was short-listed for the Giller Prize.

Steven Heighton reading: The Ecstasy of Skeptics (Anansi, 1994) Oct. 12
The Ecstasy of Skeptics, a collection of poems, was short listed for a Governor General's Award in 1995. Heighton, who was born in 1961, in Toronto, has recently published his first novel, The Shadow Boxer.

Stephanie Bolster reading: White Stone: The Alice Poems (Vehicule, 1999) Oct. 26
Bolster won the Governor General's Award in 1998 for White Stone: The Alice Poems. Her most recent publication is a book of poems entitled Two Bowls of Milk, published by McClelland and Stewart in 1999.

Neil Bissoondath reading: The Worlds Within Her: A Novel (Knopf, 1998) Nov. 9
Born in Trinidad in 1955, Bissoondath emigrated to Canada in 1973 and graduated with a BA in French from York University's Glendon College in 1977. He has written several books including a volume of short stories, Digging up the Mountains, (1985), and Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada (1994).

Marilyn Dumont reading: A Really Good Brown Girl (Brick Books, 1996) Nov. 23
Dumont's poems have appeared in many anthologies. Her first collection of poems, A Really Good Brown Girl, was published in 1996 by Brick Books. She has been First Nations Advisor to students at Simon Fraser University, and has just been appointed Writer-in-Residence at the University of Alberta.

Kerri Sakamoto reading: The Electrical Field (Knopf, 1998) Dec. 7
Born in Toronto in 1960, her novel The Electrical Field won the 1999 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book, and was short-listed for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Governor General's Award for Fiction.

Austin Clarke reading: The Origin of Waves (McClelland & Stewart, 1997) Jan. 11
Born 1934 in Barbados, Clarke came to Canada in 1955. In 1959-60, he worked as a reporter in Timmins and Kirkland Lake before joining the CBC. His latest book, The Question, was published by McClelland and Stewart in 1999.

Don McKay reading: Another Gravity (McClelland & Stewart, 2000) Jan. 25
McKay edited The Fiddlehead at the University of New Brunswick, 1990-1996. He has also been an editor and publisher of Brick Books. His book of poems Birding, or Desire (1983) won the Canadian Authors' Association Prize; Nightfield won him the 1991 Governor General's Award.

Lorna Crozier reading: Angels of Flesh, Angels of Silence (McClelland & Stewart, 1989) Feb. 8
Crozier's book of poems Angels of Flesh, Angels of Silence was nominated for a Governor Generals Award in 1989; Inventing the Hawk (1992) was the winner of the Governor General's Award in 1992. Her most recent book of poems is What the Living Won't Let Go (McClelland and Stewart, 1999).

Lynn Crosbie reading: Queen Rat (Anansi, 1998) March 1
Crosbie has edited and contributed to three anthologies -- The Girls Want to (1993); Plush (1995), and Click: Becoming Feminists (1997). Her fiction includes Paul's Case (1997), and most recently, Dorothy L'Amour: A Novel, published by Harper Flamingo Canada in 1999.

Alistair MacLeod reading: No Great Mischief (McClelland & Stewart, 1999) March 15
MacLeod's latest novel No Great Mischief spent more than 40 weeks on Canada's best sellers lists. His short story The Boat was selected for Best American Short Stories in 1969, an honour repeated when The Lost Salt Gift of Blood was selected for the 1975 edition. His stories have been translated into many languages, including Gaelic and French.

Katherine Govier reading: The Truth Teller (Random Canada, 2000) March 29
Govier taught creative writing at York University from 1982-1986 and was President of PEN Canada. Her stories have been published widely in Canadian and British magazines, and have won many awards and fellowships. Her books of short stories include: Fables of Brunswick Avenue (1985); Before and After (1989); The Immaculate Conception Photography Gallery (1994). Her novels include: Going Through the Motions (1982); Between Men (1987); and Hearts of Flame (1991).

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For more information please contact:

Prof. John Unrau
Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 33893
junrau@yorku.ca

Diane Stadnicki, Master's Office
Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies
York University
(416) 736-5870
dianes@yorku.ca

Ken Turriff
Media Relations Officer
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
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