Changing The Face of Canadian Literature: A Diverse Canadian Anthology

Dane Swan (Editor)

Guernica Editions, Fall 2020

395 pages

Trade Paperback

ISBN13: 9781771835237

ISBN10: 1771835230

English

$25.00 Canada, $21.95 US, £14.95 UK

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Needless to say, moments like now, when the hurdles to becoming a respected author are at their lowest. When the only hurdles to being published are the quality of your writing and your patience to deal with certain less and less important gatekeepers. Moments in history like this, must be acknowledged and celebrated. That's what this anthology is: It's a celebration. A moment to cry out, “Look how many of us have a voice! There are stories, and poetry in this country that are about people like me! I am not alone!”

Contributors: • Dane Swan • Norma Dunning • Adam Pottle • Pamela Mordecai • Sennah Yee • Kaie Kellough • Charlie Petch • Doretta Lau • Jésus Maya • Sheena Kamal • Mary Pinkoski • Sara Tilley • Jamaal Jackson Rogers • Ayelet Tsabari • Doyali Islam • Leslie Shimotakahara • Charles C. Smith • Daniele D'Onorio • Alessandra Naccarato • Jael Richardson • Dwayne Morgan • Danila Botha • Michael Fraser • Jennilee Austria • Ian Keteku • Leesa Dean • NASRA • Tanya Evanson • Ashley Hynd • Pratap Reddy • Klara du Plessis

This anthology is a celebration. A moment to cry out, “Look how many of us have a voice! There are stories, and poetry in this country that are about people like me! I am not alone!” -- Dane Swan

One of the aspects that makes Changing the Face of Canadian Literature stand out is the prominent space devoted to spoken-word artists like Jamaal Jackson Rogers, Ian Keteku, and Tanya Evanson. Spoken word and page poetry seem like vastly different worlds, but Swan’s selection dissolves that separation. In “Medicine,” Rogers writes, “In these decades of days past I would meet faces attached to stories that / carried history from all across earth’s marvelous landscapes.” The poem dramatizes a personal encounter in Ottawa that coincides with an unpacking of immigrant identity. The concluding lines – “That if we ever want to know how deep our beauty and empathy resides, / we shall see it in the hope, the healing, the stories, the joy, / that lies in a newcomers eyes” – speak to sharing and celebrating diversity. “Medicine” captures an intent of the anthology: within differences can lie space for solidarity.

Manahil Bandukwala, Quill & Quire

What lingers are the voices. As the best anthologies do, this one left me seeking more words from these writers; I found myself following up on websites and publications, noting names and titles, thinking about potential course readings. The entries are works which we, as scholars, critics, and instructors of Canadian literature and culture, should know and should teach. Swan closes the preface with this pronouncement: “Congratulations Canada, you finally have a literature that looks like the people who inhabit you. Do not take this moment for granted.” Buy this book, share it, and, if you have the opportunity, teach it!

Suzanne James, Changing the Face of Canadian Literature

Much of the work in this anthology—based on a poetics of diversity—seems aware of the perils of writing out of a predetermined antagonism towards mainstream culture that might foreclose meaningful dialogue with different visions of Canada. It’s the necessary challenge that writers from diverse backgrounds must accept if they truly want to enter and help shape this nation’s literary and cultural currents.

Dennis L. M. Lewis, The Malahat Review

This anthology is animated by many voices and they all seem to speak to each other across the pages. Dane Swan's foreword is provocative and imaginative — for instance, asking the reader to consider what classrooms would be like if the dub poets were taught alongside/instead of the Confederation Poets. I mean, wow! The opening essay concludes with 'Congratulations, Canada, you finally have a literature that looks like the people who inhabit you. Do not take this moment for granted.' A great read and a call to action and accountability.

Shelagh Rogers

It’s the kind of book that would have been life changing for me a young writer. There are so many incredible pieces in here, from Doretta Lau, Ayelet Tsabari, Jael Richardson, Leesa Dean, Adam Pottle, Doyali Islam, Charlie Petch and more.

Danila Botha

Reviews

A Very Timely Anthology: Changing the Face of Canadian Literature
Suzanne James, Canadian Literature - December 2, 2020
Changing the Face of Canadian Literature
The Malahat Review - November 11, 2020
Quill & Quire's Starred Review
Quill & Quire - September 1, 2020

Books by Dane Swan

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