canadian literature | The Walrus

Illustration of alternating segments of a fountain pen and a white cane, against a dark blue background.

The Author Who Shaped the Way We Represent Disability

October 23, 2020October 23, 2020 - by Meagan Gillmore

Mainstream entertainment rarely allows people with disabilities to exist as we are. Jean Little’s work taught me there’s no shame in writing about our experiences

A photograph of the exterior of a bookstore at nighttime. Inside, the store is lit and the shelves are full.

Business / COVID-19

How COVID-19 Infected the Publishing Industry

July 14, 2020July 14, 2020 - by Stephen Henighan

The pandemic has pushed booksellers and publishers to the brink

A yellow book cover with a woman wearing blue tights and high platform shoes. The background, yellow, red and blue graphics, corresponds with the cover of the book.

Arts & Culture / Books

How to Break Every Rule of Contemporary Writing and Succeed

July 2, 2020July 3, 2020 - by André Forget

Jean Marc Ah-Sen’s new book cracks open the tired tradition of the postmodern novel

A photograph of the poet, Bronwen Wallace, in black and white. She is wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a scarf tied around her neck. Her hands are in her pockets and she is smiling at the camera.

Arts & Culture / May 2020

The Poet Whose Work Helped Set the Stage for #MeToo

April 24, 2020June 10, 2020 - by Anita Lahey

Twenty-seven years after her death, Bronwen Wallace’s feminist poetry feels newly relevant

An image of the grand banks of Newfoundland, with a series of houses lining the perimeter of the banks. The photo is styled in red and pink hues, so the water appears a dark salmon colour and the houses and sky are paler shades of pink.

Arts & Culture

The Poet Who Warns Us Not to Revere the Past

March 26, 2020March 26, 2020 - by Mark Callanan

The work of Newfoundland poet Tom Dawe tackles the dangers of nostalgia

Arts & Culture / Books

The Challenge of Addressing Slavery in Children’s Stories

February 18, 2020February 18, 2020 - by Donna Bailey Nurse

Where history has ignored the lives of Black Canadians, writers like Christopher Paul Curtis have turned painful realities into powerful narratives

Books / January/February 2020

Climate Fiction’s Unhelpful Obsession with the End of the World

January 9, 2020October 8, 2020 - by Damian Tarnopolsky

We already have plenty of stories about the apocalypse. Now, we need ones that imagine new futures

Books

Ten Canadian Authors on the Best Books of 2019

December 5, 2019December 8, 2019 - by The Walrus Staff

We asked some of our leading contemporary writers to pick their favourite reads of the year

A photo of the poet Elizabeth Smart in her later years, wearing a dark jacket and a white shirt with a frilled collar, looking to the left of the frame and smoking.

Arts & Culture / December 2019

Elizabeth Smart Died in 1986. Her Work Still Haunts Me

November 29, 2019November 29, 2019 - by Dale Hrabi

Poetic genius, bohemian, copywriter: she taught me to never compromise

Arts & Culture / December 2019

The Making of Margaret Atwood

November 18, 2019March 27, 2020 - by Tajja Isen

An oral history of the writer’s journey from student poet to cultural prophet