Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2008) I thought the footnotes would make it fun (like in a Steven Haywood short story); I was more focussed on the ‘wondrous’ than the warning of brevity. In fact, Oscar’s life emerges from dictatorship and constricted choices, and you
Alongside the most recent Mavis Gallant collection, I've been reading a variety of short stories, including a collection of African writers, Opening Spaces, edited by Yvonne Vera. The collection dates to 1999 and includes both well-known and emerging writers: The Girl Who Can - Ama Ata Aidoo (Ghana) Deciduous Gazettes
When I was musing on the possibilities for a reading list of indigenous authors, almost all of my favourites were fiction (just one memoir and some poetry snuck in). It just happened! But halfway through the reading year, I read the Summary Report of the Truth and Reconcilation Committee with my reading for
As with Tracks, the primary voices in Four Souls are Fleur's and Nanapush's. So, although it was published more than ten years later, I opted to read Four Souls next, to keep these characters fresher in mind and heart, hoping for a deeper understanding. Two other women play significant roles
Three of these books were inspired by the conjunction between my own shelves and this year's Random House Bingo, which has a CanLit theme. The Tiger Claw filled my Nominated-for-the-Giller square, Evan Munday's second October Schwartz for the Mystery-or-Thriller square, and Elaine Lui's book about her relationship with her mother
