Thursday, July 1, 2010

Oh Canada....

In honour of Canada Day and because this my writing blog, I want to honour the writers of Canada that I adore...so here is my list. Please feel free to comment or to add if you are a Canadian or love them! Note - I haven't included poets except if they wrote novels too. I will do a separate Canadian poetry list. Also, there are some notable mystery writers, sci fi writers, children's book writers and I haven't gone there yet either. Except for Spider Robinson who should be a national treasure - no, he is a national treasure but should be honoured as such!



FABULOUS CANADIAN WRITERS with one of their books listed...and in no particular order!

Leonard Cohen - Beautiful Losers
Margaret Atwood - Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Lawrence - The Stone Angel
Michael Ondaatje - The English Patient
Robertson Davies - Fifth Business
Lucy Maude Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables
Barbara Gowdy - Mister Sandman
Ann-Marie McDonald - Fall on Your Knees
Alice Munroe - Lives of Girls and Women
Mordecai Richler - The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Helen Humphries - The Lost Garden
Donna Morrisey - What They Wanted
Sharon Butala - The Perfection of the Morning
Timothy Findlay - The Wars
Spider Robinson - Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
Bill Gaston - The Order of Good Cheer
Sue Goyette - Lures
Elizabeth Hay - A Student of Weather
Francis Itani - Deafening
Wayne Johnston - Baltimore's Mansion
Ann Michaels - Fugitive Pieces
Joseph Boyden - Ghost Road
W.O. Mitchell - Who Has Seen the Wind
Lisa Moore - Aligator
Paul Quarrington - Whale Music
Elizabeth Smart - By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
Miriam Toews - A Complicated Kindness
Jane Urquhart - The Stone Carvers

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jan - Happy Canada Day! I wish you well : ). What a lovely list of authors, for which, thanks for sharing : ). One of my Canadian favorites is Louise Penny - I very much enjoy her Armand Gamache stories.

Natasha said...

That is an amazing list.
Happy Canada Day, my friend.

Patricia Stoltey said...

What a great idea to bring us a list of Canadian authors in celebration of the day. Happy Canada Day, Jan.

Jan Morrison said...

Margot - I really like Louise Penny too! I love the Eastern Townships where they take place and she's an excellent writer. She will definitely be on my Canadian mystery writers' list!
Natasha - thank you! I strongly reccomend all of these books!
Thanks, Patricia - I'm glad you like my celebration! I just bought six boxes of strawberries for the other part...ah, yum!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Never noted if any of my favorite authors are Canadian or not.

Talli Roland said...

Great list!

Funny, Spider Robinson used to live in a house I rented when I was going to Dal. Me and my flatmates found parts of his MS in the attic! I wish I saved them.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Happy Canada Day, Jan! What a fantastic list of authors...and some I'm embarrassed to say I didn't realize were Canadian! Thanks for opening my eyes. :)

Helen Ginger said...

Great list of authors. I need to read more of them. Incidentally, I loved The Handmaid's Tale.

Happy Canada Day!

Straight From Hel

Jemi Fraser said...

Happy Canada Day Jan!

On my list (bloggy minds think alike) I only included a few of my favourites. Farley Mowat, Gordon Korman, Monica Hughes & Robert Munsch are on my list :)

Jan Morrison said...

Alex, that must mean you aren't Canadian! Yep, we've got a national inferiority complex. Don't get me started on comedians...

Talli- I adore Spider. His lovely wife of so many years - Jeannie, died very recently. I wish you'd kept them too!

Elizabeth - I'm glad you like it. I would love it if you or anyone read some of them and told me what you thought!

Helen - I did too! And Orx & Crake. My dad and step-mother hate her with a rabidity that is mystifying to me. We can't even discuss it.

Jemi - Oh I love all of those authors too! Except Monica Hughes - I'll look her up. I'm going over to your site right now...

Elspeth Futcher said...

What a great idea! I have almost everything Robertson Davies wrote. He's one of my favourites. Happy Canada Day from my coast to yours!

Niamh said...

And Jan Morrison! Happy Canada Day!

Molly said...

Bananie,
I love this list and so far have read very few --just Spider, Bill, Jane and Donna--so keep em coming as we age and turn page.
Your photos of Queen, Arlo and cadets made me cry...a perfect Canada DaY.
Love,
Molly

Jan Morrison said...

Elspeth - yes I love all of his books - if you haven't read Bill Gaston's Order of Good Cheer please do! I'm sure you'll love it - it revolves around Port Royale four hundred years ago and the west coast of BC today...it is lovely.
Niamh - ah, how very nice of you. Wouldn't I love that - better get writing!
Moll, yay! I love it when you comment! thanks about the pics - I am so happy with them...

Brian Richert said...

Hey there Jan-
I heard of your list from your step-mom, so I had to check it out.
Not bad, but some people would say that Carol Shields is a glaring omission! I also would have found space for W.P.Kinsella, Douglas Copeland, Diane Schoemperlen, and the other great Canadian writer named Robinson: Peter. I'd tell you who I would drop, but you would get mad at me.
See you Brynn's wedding!