Audio: Launch of Review 76: Contemporary Canadian Writing and Arts

May 15, 2008

Cover image by Melvin Charney.

The Spring 2008 issue of Review focuses on contemporary Canadian writing and arts. The issue's launch included remarks and readings by acclaimed novelists Camilla Gibb (Sweetness in the Belly) and Ann Charney (Rousseau's Garden), poet Herménégilde Chiasson (Lectures), and Guest Academic Editor Sylvia Söderlind and Guest Creative Editor Mark Abley. The event served as the final literature program of an organization-wide Spring 2008 Canada Festival that has also included music programs and a visual arts exhibition. The event served as the final literature program of an organization-wide Spring 2008 Canada Festival that also included music programs and a visual arts exhibition.

Listen to a selection of readings presented at the launch of Review 76: Contemporary Canadian Writing and Arts by clicking in the player below:


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• Daniel Shapiro
• Mark Abley
• Ann Charney
• Herménégilde Chiasson
• Pamela Wallin
• Camilla Gibb

Mark Abley is the author of the acclaimed Spoken Here: Travels among Threatened Languages and, most recently, The Prodigal Tongue. He served as the book-review editor for The Montreal Gazette.

Ann Charney is a Polish-born novelist, short story writer, and journalist who has received awards both for her fiction and nonfiction. She was recently named an Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters.

Herménégilde Chiasson is an award-winning poet, playwright, and visual artist who has been a prime mover in the revival of Acadian culture in Atlantic Canada and who has served as Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick since 2003.

Camilla Gibb is the author of three novels, most recently Sweetness in the Belly (2006), which won the 2006 Trillium Book Award and was short-listed for the Giller Prize.

Daniel Shapiro is both the Director of Literature and Editor/Managing Editor of Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas. His poetry and translations have appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies.

Pamela Wallin is a Canadian-born journalist and diplomat who serves as AS/COA's Senior Advisor on Canadian Affairs.

Review 76 focuses on currents in contemporary writing from throughout Canada, including literature in English and French and aboriginal and immigrant literatures; the selections presented in the issue provide a glimpse of the multicultural and multi-generational face of Canadian writing today. The issue opens with a section of scholarly articles that explore the influence of history, language, geography, ethnic identity, and class upon the country's literary production. It continues with a creative section comprised of fiction, poetry, essays, drama, and reviews of books by iconic and emerging authors such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, and Priscila Uppal, as well as pieces on Canadian art and music. Featured writers include Di Brandt, Lawrence Hill, David Manicom, Don McKay, Merilyn Simonds, Michel Tremblay, and Richard Wagamese.

To order a copy of Review 76, visit www.tandf.co.uk/journals/spissue/rrev-si2.asp.

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