Getting Lit with Linda - The Canadian Literature Podcast (Linda Morra)

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In this episode, Linda begins with the sound of her father's old espresso machine, to explain how she sees -- or hears -- sound working in Magnetic Equator (published by McClelland & Stewart) by international poet, novelist, and sound performer Kaie Kellough. You can hear a sample of his sound poetry here. This episode includes a small excerpt read by Kellough himself (with permission by Kellough).

In the "take-away" section, Linda talks about a biography she recently read by Sherrill Grace, about Canadian author Timothy Findley (published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press).

If you'd like to know more about sound poetry, and about Kaie Kellough as a sound poet, check out Adam Sol's blog post about Kellough on "How a Poem Moves."

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In this episode, and as part of the Sealey challenge, Linda interviews poet and scholar, Chantel Lavoie, about her love for the poetry of Margaret Atwood - in particular, the collections Morning in the Burned House (Penguin Random House), The Door (Penguin Random House), and Dearly (HarperCollins).

Lavoie is herself a poet, as Linda notes at the outset of the episode: she published Where The Terror Lies with Quattro Books in 2012 and This is About Angels, Women, and Men with Manfield Press in 2019. Linda reflects on her first meeting with Lavoie, several years ago, when she had won the Books in Canada Prize, and cites from Lavoie's poems that won that year.

Lavoie and Linda also invent a new cocktail - called the "Atwood martini."

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In this episode, addressing Jane Rule's Taking My Life (Talon Books), Linda discusses why bodies "complain" and what it means when they do. In the Takeaway section, she reviews Sara Ahmed's new book, Complaint (Duke University Press). In Complaint!, Ahmed examines institutional harassment and bullying, and how to read complaints that are lodged against such institutions. In the entirety of the episode, Linda is discussing how we respond to different forms of "grooming" (Ahmed) or bodily coercion - and why indeed the body complains.

If you want to know more generally about Jane Rule, please visit the Queer Legends podcast, in which Shawn Dearn interviews Linda Morra about her life and work.

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Remember Shirley Temple, that Hollywood cinema's icon of idealized (white) girlhood? Linda looks up a short clip, "On the Good Ship Lollipop," and feels uncomfortable (trigger warning here) and explains why she and some of her students shared that experience. She considers the importance of contextualizing or historicizing our responses to cultural artefacts -- but, even so, there is good reason to feel uncomfortable about Temple's childhood performances. That's not necessarily the case for our interpretation of the heroine of the first part of Wayson Choy's The Jade Peony.

Topics include:

• Shirley Temple's "On the Good Ship Lollipop"
• Wayson Choy's The Jade Peony
• Chinatown, Vancouver
• Patriarchy and the male gaze
• Repatriation of Chinese bones

In the Takeaway section, she looks at Madelaine Caritas Longman's marvellous debut collection, The Danger Model (McGill Queen's Press), which unsurprisingly won the Concordia First Book Prize by the Quebec Writers' Federation.

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Linda focuses on Indigenous writers in this podcast in view of Orange Shirt Day (every child matters!) and the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. She recommends several writers (some of them featured on 49th shelf), including Cherie Dimaline and Joshua Whitehead.

Postcards may offer glossy images of success or experiences that aren't real - instead, sometimes those images may obscure the turbulent underside of our lives. Beginning with her experience with depression (trigger warning), Linda addresses how misunderstandings arise from expectations about what one should feel and what one actually feels; she thus considers the Apple TV character, Ted Lasso, and his sage advice, "Be curious, not judgemental." She then looks at Eden Robinson's magnificent (and painful) story, "Traplines" (from the book of the same name, Traplines, published by Penguin/Random House) in which the narrator, Will, must navigate an abusive context (more trigger warnings) and try to discern how to act and what is options really are. All of this is rendered more complex by his deep sense of hunger (real and otherwise).

Then, in the Takeaway, Linda recommends Naomi Fontaine's Manikanetish (translated by Luise von Flotow, published by House of Anansi), which was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award. You can find a longer review of this book in the Montreal Review of Books.

She also thanks some of her listeners, including Arpita Ghosal at SesayArts Magazine.

If you are suffering from depression, please reach out and get support. You are not alone.

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Happy Hallowe-en! This episode tackles a book that deals with ghosts, gruesome accidents, and murder -- Kevin Lambert's You Will Love What You Have Killed, translated by Donald Winkler (published by Biblioasis 2020) from the French (Tu Aimeras Ce Que Tu As Tué, 5.40). Linda begins this episode with a personal anecdote about a dead body that was found in a dog house (on the property of her parents' neighbours): she uses this narrative to explore the idea of the "repressed," that is, those emotions or moments or stories we would prefer to forget. Lambert, she argues, not only does not allow us to forget the repressed, he insists we grapple with its elements--it makes for a disorienting and yet bewitching read, as even Le Devoir in its review of the book noted (11.43)! Like reigning horror writer from Quebec, Patrick Senecal (5.16), Lambert is skilfully eliciting a sense of our horror, highlighting its effects by locating the events of the book in Chicoutimi, Quebec (6.26) and toppling stereotypical notions of romance, or picturesque rural areas as featured in books like Maria Chapdelaine (7.00).If you want to read other reviews about Lambert's book, you can visit CBC book reviews here or Xtra here).

In the Takeaway section, Linda praises other translations from the French, those of Virginia Pesamapeo Bordeleau 's Blue Bear Woman (published by Inanna) and The Lover, The Lake (Freehand Books) (13.30).

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Linda opens this episode with a dedication to her nephew -- and then "shares the light" of Diwali with children's literature author, Mitali Ruths, with whom she chats about her book Archie Celebrates Diwali. Published this year by Charlesbridge Archie Celebrates Diwali is based on an epic, Ramayana, and focuses on the South-Asian festival of lights (3.45, 8.45, and 10.30). Mitali addresses Diwali's origins (3.45 and 4.37), how it is celebrated (15.11), and the reasons for writing this story (7.30, 8.45, 10.30 and 18.30). She makes reference to Sanjay Patel's Ramayana: Divine Loophole (8.27); the significance of Archie's name (a reference to archana and to the Emmy-winning British actress, Archie Panjabi, 20); her fabulous illustrator, Parwinder Singh (4 and 4.15); and, more generally, the plot and meaning of the book (20.30). Mitali also locates this book as one among several in a renaissance of South-Asian stories (9.35).

Special shout-outs (among others) to:

• HG Literary Group (11.28)
• Victoria Wells (11.28)
• her publisher, Charlesbridge (12.28 and 16.09)
• the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (10.33)

At 26.10, Mitali makes a special offer to listeners of the podcast -- and I want "in" on that too!

Join me on the next episode when I chat with some of the finalists for the Quebec Literary prizes (hosted by the Quebec Writers' Federation).

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As #winterstormwarnings arrive, perhaps you may want to curl up with some of the writers' books that were shortlisted for the Quebec Writers' Federation awards - Linda speaks to some of the writers shortlisted for the Janet Savage Blachford Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature, in addition to one of the poets shortlisted for the A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry. She also spoke about the QWF Gala and the times she slipped on floor-length ballgowns over her jeans for the Governor General's Awards before entering Rideau Hall in Ottawa. So she asked the writers interviewed for this episode how they felt about being shortlisted. Here are the writers who are featured in this episode:

• Monique Polak (Room for One More, Kar-Ben Books)
• Su J Sukol (Zee by Nimbus Publishing)
• Nadine Neema (Journal of a Traveling Girl by Wandering Fox, Heritage House Press)
• Sarah Venart (I am the Big Heart by Brick Books)

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In this episode, Linda considers Richard Van Camp, a Dene author who wrangles with what masculinity is, what it looks for those who identify as men, and how and why that may (or should) change. Published by Great Plains Publications, The Moon of Letting Go is the book of focus in this episode, particularly the story, "Show me Yours" (7.27) - and yes, it means exactly what you think it does, but maybe not showing exactly what you think it might. Linda refers to one of the preeminent scholars of Van Camp's work, Dr. Sam McKegney (6.01), and cites from his work, The Burden of Peace (University of Regina Press, 2021), to explore what Van Camp is trying to accomplish in this work.

In the Takeaway portion, she links the concept of masculinity that in part informs her understanding of Brian Fawcett's Cambodia: A Book for People Who Find Television to Slow (Talon Books) (13.10), published in 1986. Clearly, it's not a recent book - but it was so prescient in terms of what it anticipated about the effects of corporatization and the media, and it does so in a voice that is savvy, smart, and satirical.

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Linda and several of this season's contributors--Chantel Lavoie, Marco Timpano, Amanda Barker, and Michael Nest--render their book recommendations for the holidays:

1. Ivan Coyote's Care Of
2. Margaret Atwood's The Door,
3. David Chariandy's I've Been Meaning to Tell You
4. Zoe Whittall's The Best Kind of People
5. Anne-Marie MacDonald's Fall on your Knees),

Linda offers her listeners a gift for the holidays - from the archives, her previously-unpublished interview with Ali Hassan, the host of Canada Reads. The interview, from 2020 (and Canada Reads 2020-2021), alludes to the background of the pandemic, which (alas!) remains relevant. Drawing back the curtain to allow us see the inner workings of Canada Reads, Ali Hassan offers interesting insights about this national literary competition and about his role in it.

Happy holidays everyone - The third season of Getting Lit with Linda will return in early February 2022.

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Linda is delighted to be back for her third season of Getting Lit With Linda!

In this first episode of the season, she considers the movie, Don't Look Up (dir. by Adam McKay, 1.13, 2.49), the nature of satire (with reference to Mordecai Richler, 2.00, and Jonathan Swift, 2.11), and the looming environmental crisis. It's a topic that poet, Rita Wong (4.32) has addressed unflinchingly in her work, especially forage (published by Nightwood Editions, winner of the Dorothy Livesay Prize, 6.09). Linda recalls getting in touch with Wong when her former student, Morgan Cohen (5.25), used her work in an independent study (which has since gone on to be published). In so doing, Linda is shocked to discover Wong's legal entanglement (7.44), but, in the process, she realizes and is inspired by Wong, who has made a clear decision to be a land protector.

Appropriately, Clayton Thomas-Muller's book, Life in the City of Dirty Water (16.30) came to her attention while working on this episode--his work as an activist emerges from the realization that self-healing is essential to the process. This fascinating book has since been shortlisted for the Canada Reads competition, which includes the following writers this year:

• Michelle Good's Five Little Indians
• Catherine Hernandez's Scarborough
• Esi Edugyan's Washington Black and
• Omar El Akkad's What Strange Paradise

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In this episode, Linda has the great pleasure of chatting with Wayde Compton, the writer, scholar, publisher, and current Chair of Creative Writing at Douglas College (in New Westminster, BC). He is the author of several books, including 49th Parallel Psalm (finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize); Performance Bond; After Canaan: Essays on Race, Writing, and Region (finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award); the graphic novel, The Blue Road; and The Outer Harbour (winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award). He has also edited two anthologies: Bluesprint: Black British Columbian Literature and Orature and The Revolving City: 51 Poems and the Stories Behind Them (finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award).

During this interview, we also speak about

• the Black population in Vancouver compared to that of Nova Scotia (17.15)
• May Ayin (22)
• the Black Cultural Archive (4.30 and 8)
• What to read (and his own reading patterns, 30)

Compton is a co-founder of the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project (8), an organization formed to raise awareness about the history of Vancouver’s black community, and was one of the co-founders of Commodore Books (11.40), with Karina Vernon and David Chariandy. For February, he has been an active social media presence, for Black History Month. If you follow him on Twitter—and if you don’t, we highly recommend that you do at @WaydeCompton – you’ll know that he’s been tweeting stories about people of African descent in Vancouver.

So, just in time for Black History Month, we hope you enjoy this interview with Wayde Compton.

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In today's episode - for International Women's Day - Linda chats with Shani Mootoo about her forthcoming book of poetry, Cane Fire (Book *Hug) and the collaborative nature of its production. We also discuss the following:

• her archival materials at Simon Fraser University (20.58)
• erotic poetry (22.45)
• working in different genres (26.26)
• her forthcoming memoir (34.27)
• Oeno Gallery (34.27)
• the Ukrainian invasion and poetry (47.53)

And so much more! Please stay tuned for the forthcoming onsite exhibit at Simon Fraser University in which one of the archival materials from Shani Mootoo's archive will be featured.

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In this episode, Linda interviews Stephen Collis about his most recent collection of poetry, A History of the Theories of Rain (Talon Books). The next episode is the second part of that interview. For now, just a couple of points of clarification: SFU, the acronym that Collis and Linda use in this interview, stands for Simon Fraser University. Also, they refer to the SLAPP suit by which Collis was confronted. For those of you who may have never heard of this before, a SLAPP suit is a civil lawsuit or counterclaim that alleges defamation but is really initiated for the purposes of intimidating, burdening, punishing, or harassing – and usually it is filed against people or organizations who speak out about issues of public interest. 

Linda and Stephen cover several topics, including

• 10.40 his activism
• 13.13 Kinder Morgan
• 14.00 Collis’s poetry as used in a legal setting
• 16.12 A History of the Theories of Rain
• 16.23 grief
• 19. Greta Thunberg and recent political shortcomings

In the Takeaway portion of the podcast, Linda introduces her listeners to the young poet, Isabella Wang, whose collection, Pebble Swing (Nightwood Editions), and the poetry that appeared in The Capilano Review, showcase a burgeoning talent.

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In this episode, the second part of her interview with Stephen Collis, Linda goes in greater depth about Collis's poetry, speaking to him about his most recent collection of poetry, A History of the Theories of Rain (Talon Books).

In the Takeaway section, Linda refers to Canada Reads and considers the results of this year's competition, with reference to:

• Michelle Good's Five Little Indians
• Catherine Hernandez's Scarborough

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What do you want to know for? This is the question Linda considers as she writes her biography about Jane Rule - one that Nobel-Prize winning writer, Alice Munro, has considered many times as she weaves autobiography and fiction in her work, specifically in the book under discussion in this episode, The View from Castlerock. Linda discuses:

• Questions of biography (2.32, 19.00)
• Jane Rule (3.00)
• Alice Munro's autobiographical impulses (3.10, 6.33)
• Munro's Dear Life (4.30)
• Munro's The View from Castle Rock (5.08, 8.00, 9.32)
• Her story, "What Do You Want to Know For" (19.32)

In the Takeaway, Linda looks at Zoe Whittall's book, The Spectacular (published by HarperCollins) -- which it really is. She does consider the polarized reviews, and then suggests why it may be that some were positive and others not as much. Ultimately, she sees Whitall's book as falling within the tradition of the short story cycle, the very genre in which Munro specializes.

For more scholarship about celebrity autobiography and memoirs in Canada, check out Katja Lee's Limelight: Canadian Women and the Rise of Celebrity Autobiography (WLUP, shortlisted for the Gabrielle Roy Prize in 2020), or Lorraine York and Katia Lee's Celebrity Cultures in Canada (UTP 2016).

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Linda chats with Terri Favro, an Toronto-based, Italian-Canadian author who is poised to release her next novel, The Sisters Sputnik, a sequel to her acclaimed speculative fiction novel, Sputnik's Children. They have a leisurely conversation -- in this, the first part of their two-part interview -- discussing all manner of subjects, from

• the importance of storytelling
• to the appropriate terminology for robots
• to growing up in an era of nuclear uncertainty (and not so unlike now either).
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There is also a lengthier discussion about Eli Mandel's Station Eleven (published by HarperCollins) and the wonderful audiobook version read by Kirsten Potter (around the 30-minute mark). Stay tuned for part 2 of this episode!

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If you love crime and mystery writing, you will love MOTIVE - the Crime & Mystery Festival slated to take place between June 3 and June 5, 2022 at the Harborfront Centre in Toronto. The line-up of authors either speaking or giving workshops is nothing short of impressive: it features writers from Canada, of the ilk of Thomas King (who will be interviewed by CBC's Shelagh Rogers), but also international writers like Gunnar Staalesen, Thomas Enger,and Ilaria Tuti. I had the opportunity to chat with Roland Gulliver, the Director of The International Festival of Authors, of which Motive is an offshoot. We spoke about the fact that this is the first time since 2020 (any clues why?) that the event will be held onsite -- although there will be some hybrid events as well. I asked him about some of the writers being featured -- and he had a hard time whittling the list down, but he did happen to mention the following writers:

• Kathy Reichs
• Shari Lapena
• Mark Billingham
• Fuminori Nakamura

And many more.

I've bought my tickets already (for online, hybrid events)! Don't miss out on MOTIVE!

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In this second part of this episode, Linda chats with Marissa Stapley, whose book Lucky (published by Simon & Schuster and available on Audible) was just picked up as the first Canadian book on Reese's Book Club picks. Linda has a personal response to this book, which she references as she speaks about Stapley's interview with Shelagh Rogers on The Next Chapter. She also asks Stapley about the kind of research she undertakes to write this kind of book, and the characters about whom she writes.

If you'd like to hear Stapley live -- or learn from her -- she is speaking and giving a master class (insert: Linda wishes she could be in Toronto for this!) at MOTIVE, on June 3 to June 5, at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto.

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This is the second part of Linda's interview with Terri Favro, who opens this part with her thoughts about gender and the genre of science fiction, making reference to

• Ursula LeGuin (1.05)
• Doris Lessing (2.45)
• Margaret Atwood (2.45)

Linda and she then turn their attention to the challenges of writing a trilogy (3.45) and the effects of the pandemic on writing her last instalment, The Sisters Sputnik (ECW). The two consider the Spanish Flu (9.35, 10.45, 12.23) and Sacco and Vanzetti (12.07), early Italian immigrants who were accused of theft and murder -- and explain the kind of anti-Italian sentiment that had a bearing on Favro's family (and many Italian immigrants). She speaks about how, first, she learned how stories were important to la bella figura (16.34) -- an Italian expression that captures the idea of holding a respectable outward form to the world (even if one's private life was a mess!), and, second, how her father was a source of inspiration as a "robot keeper" (19.37). That robot, incidentally, she adds, made an appearance on Johnny Carson (the "unimate," 25 and 29.12).

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In this episode, while I am away in Germany, I reflect upon the upcoming Indigenous Voices Awards, which is set to take place on June 21st (and this occasions an early release of the episode!).

After a quick opening teaser with the most extraordinary Dene storyteller and writer -- and the MC of this year's IVAs -- Richard van Camp, I then hold a brief interview with Cree-Metis scholar/professor and co-organizer of the IVAS, Deanna Reder (2.50) who explains the history of the awards and talks about this year's event.

I also had the opportunity to speak to two dynamite short-listed writers:

• Tenille Campbell (13.15), the Dene-Metis author of Nedi Nazu who elegantly discusses how women need to give themselves permission to love themselves.
• Lisa Boivin (18.14), a member of the Deninu Kue, who speaks about her children's book, We Dream Medicine Dreams, and her departure from scholarly work to write children’s literature. 

And last (and certainly not least!), I speak with the magnificent Haisla/Heltsuk writer, Eden Robinson (22.13), one of this year's jurors for the IVAs, about the responsibilities of being a juror (and yes, you will hear her contagious laugh!)

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• In this loving and lovely interview that took place in Montreal during the lunar eclipse of May 15-16, 2022, Linda interviews Shannon Webb-Campbell (a member of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation) about her new book of poetry, Lunar Tides (Book*hug). The conversation ranges from Montreal as a city for "Leos & lovers" (3.30), to themes of maternal loss and longing (4.45 and 6.15), to the following:

• 1.0 Book*hug, and its other authors, including Shani Mootoo (author of Cane Fire) (1.0)
• Following Webb Campbell on Instagram (1.50)
• Lunar Tides (4.30)
• Her poem, “You were never a visitor to this world" (9.00)
• Her poem, "Time: A Biography" (5.25, 8.50, 14.35)
• Birthing poetry (9.50)
• Webb-Campbell's new novel (12.04)
• the ACCUTE conference (13.21)
• Lee Maracle (13.30)
• Duo Concertante (19.30) and "Ecology of Being"
• the film based on "Ecology of Being) (21.00)

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Linda opens on a celebratory note: Getting Lit With Linda has received two separate nominations for the Canadian Podcasting Awards, one in the category of Outstanding Educational Series and another in the category of Outstanding Arts Podcast. She also includes a tribute to the late Steven Heighton (2.39), whom she remembers fondly.

Linda and Gillian Sze -- the guest for this episode -- chat about her new book, Quiet Night Think (ECW Press) and participate in “quiet thinking” and "looking," especially when there are competing demands on one's time and competing expectations. They discuss other writers, with an emphasis on Li Bai (701-7662 AD; 5.11, 16.27, 24.09) and Emily Dickinson or “Em” (12.28, 16.27, 24.11, 25.11). They also chat about the following:

• Caregiving, night vigils (19.32; 23.00)
• Origins, parenting, immigrant parents (25.35, 26.28)
• Structure and genre of the collection (20.27, 21.39)
• Learning Mandarin (7.22)
• Poetry and relationships (8.28 ; her father, 9.45, 27.03)
• the Chinese generation poem (8.39)
• Ekphrastic poetry (14.12)
• looking, and the nature of looking (cosmic, artistic; the flaneur;13.20, 17.30, 18.12)
• Cezanne (17.50)
• Fountain pens (18.38)
• Canlit and questions of gender (25.50)
• Sitting in the Moon, postpartum care (4.57, 16.45, 33.18)
• Insomnia (17.00)

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In this episode, Linda reflects on why we say boundaries are "bad" and how "good relationships" stand in contrast. Using Thomas King (author of The Inconvenient Indian, Medicine River, Green Grass, Running Water) and Natasha Donovan's graphic novel, Borders (published by Little Brown, 6.55), Linda explores "bad boundaries" -- and bad borders -- in relation to the Blackfoot nation. She also refers to Daniel Rück’s The Laws and the Land (4.00) and Benjamin Hoy’s A Line of Blood and Dirt (5.55) to explain her thinking around boundaries and borders. Some of her musings encompass the following:

• What are bad boundaries? (2.43; 5.05; 10.40)
• The Canadian-American Border; Blackfoot territory (8.30; 9.00; 12.19; 14.18; 15.00)
• Mapping and cartography as expressions of power (8.40)
• National imagined identities (9.00)
• Blackfoot culture (9.58)
• Relationships (between the mother-daughter, mother-narrator in the story, 11.00; 15.25; 16.35)
• Stories and their importance (15.40)

The Takeaway is about Joshua Whitehead's Full Metal Indigiqueer published by Talon Press (17.00), with reference to Making Love to the Land by Penguin Random House. She makes reference to the difference between Transgender and Two Spirit, the former referreing to someone whose gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth, the latter to an Indigenous person who identifies as possessing both a masculine and a feminine spirit.

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Ever wonder what was the "first" book of Canadian literature? How do we even know how to define what that would be? In this episode, Linda chats with eighteenth-century British literature scholar, Dr. Kathryn Ready, about what is sometimes claimed as the first book of Canadian literature--Frances Brooke's The History of Emily Montague. Linda and Dr. Ready may -- or may not -- have tussled over whether this book is British or Canadian, but what they absolutely do is consider the finer aspects of the novel and its global investments.

Linda opens with a consideration of "firsts" (referencing Abbott and Costello's comedy routine, "Who's on First?," 1.05) and then turns to Dr. Ready who speaks about the following:

• epistolary narratives, tradition of letter-writing (4.25; 5.15)
• Samuel Richardson's Pamela (4.35, 6.30)
• Frances Brooke (8.25)
• travel writing (11.25)
• aesthetic of the sublime and beautiful (11.40)
• the Seven Years War (12.05)

And so much more ....

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Is there Bacon in Heaven? Maybe – but there’s certainly bacon on earth, Ali Hassan reminds us, and he enjoys it—and he doesn’t mean it simply literally either. In his new book--a memoir titled Is There Bacon in Heaven? (Simon & Schuster) -- he looks at what is good here on earth and how to locate those moments of goodness—in addition to those of humour and comedy and joy. In this interview, Linda and he talk about the fundamentals of his memoir, the boundaries of comedy, and the power of humour—to restore relationships and connect us meaningfully to others.

Some of the topics we broach?:

• 9/11 and crossing the border;
• the purposes of comedy;
• the difference between writing for the page and for the stage.

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In this episode, Linda reflects on a strike in which she was a participant and the real complexities of its participants and affiliated institutions as a way into Kevin Lambert's marvellous new book, Querelle of Roberval (Biblioasis). Invoking the proportions and form of Greek tragedy, Lambert locates the conflict of this book in a small town in Quebec and shows how its participants all have complex motivations for their actions--including hatred, lust, and revenge.

In the Takeaway, Linda highly recommends a column by Casey Plett called "Balls Out: A Column on Being Transgendered" (which appeared in McSweeney's Internet Tendency.), a poignant and engaging series about the process of transitioning.

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What does it really mean to be haunted? Is being haunted always a sinister experience? For this Hallowe'en episode, Linda considers

• memory and loss
• trauma
• and the nature of haunting and feeling haunted

She considers, for example, Emily Bronte's nineteenth-century British novel Wuthering Heights (and Kate Bush's song, "Wuthering Heights" based on the novel) or Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as examples outside of literature in Canada. But then she counts down to her top five books that either haunt her or delineate haunting experiences.

Which five works of literature in Canada make the cut? You'll have to listen to find out ...

In the "Takeaway" section, she recommends Miram Toews' All My Puny Sorrows - an extraordinary novel that challenges us about what our responsibility to others is and means.

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** Explicit language in this episode

Linda opens this episode on a celebratory note – the fact that Getting Lit with Linda won in the category of Outstanding Education Series in the Canadian Podcast Awards. We are grateful to our listeners, voters, and guests on the show! (And Linda recommends reaching out to her producer, Marco Timpano, if you want more information about podcasting in general!)

In this episode, Linda begins with a reflection on the “weight of Atlas” in relation to Greek mythology (no, not the band “The Weight of Atlas” that did a cover of one of Taylor Swift’s songs) and how we use it in the present. She ties that reflection to the themes of Amy Spurway’s Crow (Goose Lane Books), winner of the "IPPY Award for Best First Book - Fiction and Margaret and John Savage First Book Award for Fiction" and  the subject of this episode. The narrator, also named Crow, has returned back to her home on the East Coast of Canada, where she must learn that adapting to her environment is no longer enough—real transformation is required, which happens when one puts down the weight--our past baggage--that one has been unnecessarily carrying. The episode also involves:

• Linda's promise to examine other East Coast writers, like Michael Crummey, Lisa Moore, Joel Thomas Hynes, Donna Morrissey, and Alistair MacLeod (5.35);
• Discussions about Spurway’s Crow (GooseLane Books), with selections from the audiobook, available on Kobo (6.07);
• references to authors Heather O'Neill and Kevin Lambert and their rendering of class (12.43).

In the Takeaway (15.10), Linda discusses with actor and audiobook narrator, Amanda Barker, about what is involved in this kind of work—and especially in relation to Crow, for which she was the reader.

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In this episode, Linda considers the moment she came across the handwritten memoir of Jane Rule at the University of British Columbia Archives and Rare books. She considers the idea of "discovering" or "divining" in the archive and how that relates to meeting poet and instructor, Sheryda Warrener, who invited her to look at the work of her students during one of Linda's visits to the archive. Two poets from that exhibit--Graeme Kennedy and MacKenzie Sewell--are highlighted in this episode, along with Warrener and her collection, Test Piece (Coach House Books, 2022). The other students who took that class are Bayleigh Marelj, Sinead Tebbutt, Stephanie Okoli, Faria Malik, Ava Kucharski, and Charis Young.

Episode highlights:

• the nature of "discovery" and "divining"
• the importance of process (over "creative product")
• a consideration of ekphrasis

In the Takeaway, she recommends Montreal's Salon du Livre, taking place in Montreal at the moment of this episode's release - and tonight's event (as part of "Salon Dans La Ville"), Sean Michaels and David Mitchell (hosted by the Quebec Writers' Federation) at the Atwater Library.

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In this episode of Getting Lit With Linda, the guests over the course of the 2022 year offer their reading recommendations and their wishes to you for the holidays--including Stephen Collis, Ali Hassan, Terri Favro, Gillian Sze, Marco Timpano, Amanda Barker, Isabella Wang, Amy Spurway, Chantel Lavoie, and Kate Ready. This is our second-last episode of the season (one more before December 31) before we sign off for a break--we will be back at the end of February 2023 for Season Four!

Warmest holiday wishes to all!

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In this last episode of the season, Linda considers how empathy is often considered a function of literature and may be ideally represented -- as it is in Catherine Hernandez's Scarborough published by Arsenal Pulp Press. In order to explore how this should work, she considers the Classical orator, Cicero (and Aristotle's Poetics and Horace's Ars Poetica) to show how there is a long tradition of arguing that rhetoric and "good literature" should be able to teach, to delight, and to move us.

Other highlights include:

• references to Brené Brown (2.30)
• the difference between empathy and sympathy (2.45)
• literature and empathy (3.00)
• references to Cicero, Aristotle, Horace (4.05)
• discussion of Hernandez's Scarborough (5.40)

In the Takeaway, she considers the novel - a thriller - Truth is a Flightless Bird by Akbar Hussain and published by Iskanchi Press. And then she offers her best wishes for the new year.

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Linda informs listeners of a slight change in this year's scheduling of podcast episodes - but otherwise, welcome listeners to Season 4 of Getting Lit With Linda!

Written by Linda Morra

Co-produced by Linda Morra & Marco Timpano

Music by Raphael Krux.

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Season 4 opens with Linda's announcement of the podcast's new website and then shifts to a discussion about her literary journey - how she came to focus first on Canadian literature and then Indigenous literatures, which all started with a vital conversation. Her first book in the latter field was Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach - and it was a game-changer, sending her off to read and understand a field about which she knew very little when she started her post-graduate studies. With brief nods to Robinson's extraordinary trajectory of writing (including Son of a Trickster), Linda explains why this novel remains a personal favourite. In the Takeaway, she addresses the fact that there is a corresponding movie for Monkey Beach, which has an ending that is arguably different than that of the novel - or is it? You'll have to read the novel and watch the film to know why ....

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Linda doesn't care if she has to take less sunscreen when she goes on vacation - if it means she gets to pack an extra couple of books. What five books would she recommend?:

• Timothy Taylor's Stanley Park (Vintage/Random House, 2.00)
• Rawi Hage's Stray Dogs (Knopf, 4.11)
• Neil Smith's Bang Crunch (Vintage, 7.54)
• Marilyn Dumont's A Really Good Brown Girl (Metis; Brick Books, 10.18)
• Ann-Marie MacDonald's Goodnight Desdemona (Goodmorning Juliet )(Penguin, Random House, 13)

Linda also references Mordecai Richler (at 3.43 and 13.20) and Alice Munro (4.36), the production of MacDonald's Fall on Your Knees at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and MacDonald's term as the inaugural Mordecai Richler writer in residence at Concordia University. Check out MacDonald's "Dispatches" from the latter period, which are downright funny, offering welcome critique of Richler's masculinist tendencies.

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In this episode, Linda interviews Jason Camlot about his new collection of poetry, Vlarf - and it includes references to all manner of Victorian writing/writers, such as the following:

• Oscar Wilde
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• John Ruskin

While there is much play and whimsy in this episode, it takes a deep dive into what went into making this collection of Victorianist flarf (and what "flarf" actually is).

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Linda begins by taking up The Hockey Jersey (1.48; 3.15; 3.22) by Jael Richardson (1.58; 4.45; 26.17; 28.38), whom she interviews in this episode.The Hockey Jersey is a kind of response to The Hockey Sweater by Quebecois writer, Roch Carrier (4.18; 10.15; 14.55). Written in collaboration with the Toronto-based hockey player, Eva Perron (31.37), and with illustrations by Chelsea Charles (6.18), this book was the source of discussion between Linda and Richardson for this episode and how this children’s book, commissioned and supported by Scotiabank (3.20; 4.07, 5.42, 7.22), is directed toward changing the face of hockey.

Linda includes two other voices -- those of settler scholars, Jamie Dopp (9.51) and Sam McKegney (14.55), who also contribute to the vibrant discussion about the history of hockey in literature, both in settler and Indigenous communities.

Some other highlights?:

• Illustrations by Chelsea Charles (6.18)
• The politics of representation (7.35; 26.17; 28.38)
• The Indigenous Hockey Research Network (14.30; 24.19)
• Decolonizing Sport and Indigenous communities (22.28)
• the Habs hockey player, Maurice Richard (4.22; 14.53; 17.17)
• the origins and history of hockey in literature, including Ralph Connor's Glengarry School Days (19.50; 21.18) and Hugh McLennan's Two Solitudes (19.58; 21.23)

The episode didn’t quite make it to include a very interesting discussion with Dr. McKegney about Beardy’s Blackhawks, so check out this page for more about that. She includes other remarks by McKegney (36.15) and Dopp (33.09) about other literary books that invoke the sport of hockey, including Indian Horse by Anishnaabe novelist, Richard Wagamese (36.15).

Written & Hosted by Linda Morra

Co-produced by Linda Morra & Marco Timpano

Music by Raphael Krux

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Her guest, Bil Antoniou - Toronto theatre actor and podcast host of Bad Gay Movies and My Criterions - discusses with Linda a series of Canadian and Indigenous novels that have been adapted to the screen, including the most recent Oscar award-winning movie, Women Talking, directed by Sarah Polley (original novel by Miriam Toews).

They also discuss the following:

• Yann Martel's Life of Pi (Knopf)
• Jane Rule's The Desert of the Heart (Talon)
• Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient (Penguin Random House)
• and Mordecai Richler's Barney Version (Penguin Random House)

The winner of the adaptation award? Listen to find out!

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In this episode, in honour of Mother’s Day, Linda considers four different books that feature discussions about mothers, in whatever form they assume. She tackles four different genres -- non-fiction, the short story, poetry, and a novel/thriller -- to consider how loving and caring actions are given and received - or withheld. The four works include:

• Hannah McGregor, A Sentimental Education (Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 4.45)
• Margaret Atwood, Old Babes in the Wood (McClelland & Stewart, 11.04)
• Jenny Boychuk Antonyms for Daughter (Signal, 13.53)
• Charlene Carr’s Hold My Girl (Harper Collins, 16.23)

In the Takeaway, she recommends Kim Thúy's Secrets from my Vietnamese Kitchen: Simple Recipes from my Many Mothers (Penguin Random House, 19.05) – or really, anything by her!

Linda also references the Almodóvar film, All About My Mother (2.05) and Italian novelist, Alessandro Baricco, and one of his books, Silk (19.47)

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As a fellow endo-patient, Linda makes herself vulnerable in this episode, talking frankly with the author, Tracey Lindeman, by whom she was so inspired. Lindeman, who authored Bleed: Destroying Myths and Misogyny in Endometriosis Care (published by ECW Press in 2023), uses personal experience, interviews, and research to take a deep dive into the healthcare system and the medical treatment (or lack thereof) of endo-patients.

Some of the topics covered include:

• medical gaslighting
• support and advice for endo-patients
• advice for medical doctors

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Erum Shazia Hasan’s We Meant Well  (ECW Press) – Linda raves about this debut novel by Erum Shazia Hasan. In this novel, Maya’s colleague, Marc, has been accused of assaulting a local girl in Likanni, and so Maya is called from Los Angeles to deal with the crisis. The pressures are mounting for Maya as she tries to contend with this situation, grapple with her complex past, and grapple with her present personal life, which threatens to collapse.

In this interview, Hasan talks about how difficult it is to doubt colleagues or people we like or trust, and who have done noble things – things which stand in contrast to the accusations that have been levelled at them. Linda then probes Hasan’s aesthetic choices about this narrative and discusses the following with her:

• Origins of the novel in Haiti (2.36)
• #MeToo and #Believe Women movements (20.45; 22.23)
• Experience and process of writing this novel (5.32)
• C. S. Richardson (4.28)
• Characterization of protagonist, Maya (7.11; 15.27)
• Home country vs. Home culture (8.20, 17.25)
• Third-wave feminism and Western feminism (8:59)
• Role of trauma in decision-making (11.14)
• Moral question related to boundaries (11.50)
• Intersectionality (13.43)
• Personal vs political violences (18.03)
• Love and desire (19.20)
• Intentions and “we meant well” (24.03)

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In this episode, Linda first celebrates with her co-producer, Marco Timpano, that the podcast has been named a Finalist for the People's Choice Podcast Awards. Then she chats about the new Barbie movie around which there has been so much hype. She differentiates between change and transformation in relation to gender, and then applies this to the wonderful literary work of Vivek Shraya, including People Change. If you haven't seen her How to Fail as a Popstar, join the club: Linda wasn't able to get tickets, but she was able to hear her speak about this work at the Vancouver Literary Festival and read it in book form. Linda also makes reference to her song, Showing Up - have a listen here (at the 4.17 mark).

In the Takeaway, she connects Shani Mootoo's Cerebus Blooms at Night and Moving Foreward Sideways Like a Crab to the notion of transformation.

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This episode focuses on Amy Jones (2.13), author of Every Little Piece of Me (2.27), We're All in This Together (2.27), What Boys Like (2.37), and Pebble & Dove (2.45), published by McClelland & Stewart -- and the focus of this episode.

We also discussed Amy’s appearance at Word on the Street (.39 and 9.08) and her forthcoming appearance at the Eden Mills Literary Festival (5.12 and 8.53) on September 9th (see this link for tickets to the event).

Linda interviews Amy, during which time they chat about

• Family – what it means (7.56), dysfunctional families (9.46), and family secrets (11.00)
• Multiple points of view in narrative form (13.25)
• Motherhood (and templates thereof) (18.45)
• Balancing family and careers, and the impact of family on art (20.30)
• Manatees (22.25)
• Did we say manatees? (22.25 -- or just the entire episode!)

If you'd like to know more about how to support manatees and the seagrass programs that are important to their survival, visit the Save the Manatee Program.

Hosted by Linda Morra, Co-produced by Linda Morra and Marco Timpano, Music by Raphael Krux, Studio (Concordia University) with James Healey

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In this episode, Linda begins by speaking about the kinds of assumptions made about her because of her Italian-Canadian immigrant background - and then expands that consideration to show how making such assumptions can actually be harmful. Case in point? The Christie-Pitts riot on August 16, 1933. There have been two graphic novels written about this riot: one simply titled Christie Pitts and the other titled The Good Fight.

A second case in point is the Japanese-Canadian internment camps during the Second World War. She considers four works of literature in Canada that address this subject:

• Joy Kogawa's Obasan
• Frances Itani's Requiem
• Kerri Sakamoto's One Hundred Million Hearts
• Mark Sakamoto's Forgiveness: A Gift from my Grandparents

Then, for the Takeaway, she invites scholar, Jennifer Andrews, who addresses narratives of exceptionality and demonstrates what function they serve (and whose) and why they persist. Using her book, Canada Through American Eyes (published by Palgrave in 2023), Jennifer chats with Linda about how narratives of exceptionality are rehearsed in both the United States and Canada - and why we need to challenge them.

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Linda speaks with Métis playwright, actor, and director, Keith Barker about his play, This is How We Got Here (Playwrights Canada Press) It is a moving interview, as Barker explains the origins and shape of this play.

Their discussions touch on the following subjects (among others!):

• current and past productions of the play (3.00; 28.15; 34.10, 36.00)
• loss and trauma (1.14, 1.50, 4.30, 6.10, 12.56, 19.20, 33.58)
• structure of This is How We Got Here (1.20, 22.28, 23.25)
• representations of grief (3.50, 25.08)
• structure and shape of the play (5.48, 9.05)
• fox figure (10.04, 17.01, 18.58, 20.45, 25.10, 33.00, 36.00)
• play’s epigraph (from Jonathan Livingston Seagull, 10.30, 13.16, 15.40)
• discussion of suicide (11.51, 21.40)
• figures from nature (17.58)
• Catholicism (20.45)
• meaning of the title of the play (37.50)

Linda also invites Barker to read from his play, which he does, selecting the first scene related to the fox figure (25.25).

With a special thanks to James Healey, the podcasting studio manager - and Barker's cats, who also made an appearance in this interview!

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In this episode, Linda reflects on Dionne Brand's magnificent A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging, reprinted by Vintage (a division of Random House) in 2023 - but initially published over twenty years ago. That's the staying power of this particular volume - the "Door of No Return" is a particularly harrowing metaphor and, as Linda notes, there are many expressions that use "doors" in contemporary usage. Just not like this book does! A prolific and accomplished writer and professor, Brand is referring to the Black diaspora vis-a-vis the Black Atlantic slave trade.

To set up this discussion, Linda considers her personal fascination with "doors" (consider the gorgeous doors of the Atwater Library in Montreal) and then how they have been used in other works -- like that of Complaint! by Sara Ahmed or The Diamond Grill by Fred Wah or The Door by Margaret Atwood -- and then compares them to how the image is used in Brand's literary text.

In the Takeaway, Linda gives a shout-out to the annual Read Quebec Book Fair, that this year is taking place from November 3 to November 4th in the McConnell Building Atrium of Concordia University. Please join her there, where she will be interviewing Catherine Hernandez and Eva Crocker live!

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In this episode -- recorded live in Tiohtià:ke in the DeSeve Cinema at Concordia University -- Linda interviews award-winning authors, Catherine Hernandez and Eva Crocker. Linda begins by thanking celebrated Montreal-based author, Christopher DiRaddo, who is the director of the Violet Hour and who opens the event with a territorial acknowledgement and with an introduction to the authors. The Violet Hour and the Association of English-Language Publishers of Quebec (AELAQ) co-sponsored the event, so Linda also recognizes the superb professionalism of the team at AELAQ, including Rebecca West, Alex Sweny, and Elise Moser. She also thanks Stephen Burgess, the audio-visual technician who helped to record the event that day.

The interview begins with Hernandez and considerations of her three novels, Scarborough (Arsenal Pulp Press), Crosshairs (Simon & Schuster), and The Story of Us (HarperCollins). They also speak about her amazing Wild Strawberry Homestead. Then, Eva Crocker joins them on the stage and so they also discuss her two novels, Back in the Land of the Living (House of Anansi) and All I Ask (House of Anansi).

A question period follows the two interviews, as members in the audience also interact with Hernandez and Crocker. It's a longer episode than usual (which is why there is only ONE this month!), but you will appreciate why: the interview is at turns funny, moving, and warm.

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Linda is thrilled to have been able to conduct this interview with one of the foremost feminist scholars in Canada right now—Erin Wunker. They speak about her book Notes from a Feminist Killjoy, published by book*hug, and the important work it undertakes in relation to the labour of being a “feminist killjoy.”

Don’t know what a feminist killjoy is? Give this interview a listen to find out more.

Here are only some of the key points of the discussion:

·    About Erin Wunker (2.46) 

 ·   About the book itself: Notes from a Feminist Killjoy (book*hug press) (1.41)

·     The meaning of the title (4.39)

·     What is a killjoy? (1.47)

·     Sarah Ahmed, as a thinker and community-engaged intellectual (1.58, 5.40, 8.10, 30.08)

·     About the feminist killjoy (6.20, 7.09, 9.46, 19.40, 24.56) and intersectional feminism (15.57)

·     Betty Friedan (25.00)

·     The style of writing (25.30)

·     Collection action, allyship, friendship (18.55)

·     The podcast We Can Do Hard Things (Glennon Doyle, 13.08)

·     Catherine MacKinnon (30.14, 38.04) 

·     Tarana Burke, #MeToo, and Jian Ghomeshi (32.58)

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In this episode, Linda chats with Dr. Katherine McLeod about her role in the SpokenWeb Podcast, particularly Short Cuts. The conversation covers so much ground in such a short period! We discuss the following:

• The Short Cuts podcast (6.20, 9:21, 14.05, 18:47)
• Women poets, such as Gwendolyn MacEwan, Phyllis Webb (15:27), Muriel Rukeyser, Maxine Gadd, Margaret Atwood (8.22; 8.54; 10:03), Daphne Marlatt (18:55), Dionne Brand (11:23), and Brand with Lee Maracle (a member of the Stó:lō Nation; 12.05; 15:25)
• Feminist practices of listening (9:20)
• Holding the sound (11:00) 
• CBC Radio, the history of; women writers and (15:49) and the radio program “Anthology” (16:28) 
• The federal funding body, called SSHRC (4.32; 6.05)
• Smaro Kamboureli and the TransCanada Institute (16:07)
• The Director of SpokenWeb, Jason Camlot (2:45, 17:33; 22.03) (see Linda's previous episode with Camlot, who is also a poet, here)
• CanLit Across Media (17:40)
• The Women and Words Conference (20:54)

We talked about SpokenWeb’s beginnings, but here is another example. And, if you're curious, here is a sample of McLeod talking about “holding the sound” in a ShortCuts episode. And if you want to hear the recording of Dionne Brand speaking with Lee Maracle, try going here.

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Eloise Marseille is the first guest for Season 5 - yes, season 5! - and, this time, it's English AND French (starting at the 31.55 mark for the French interview). Marseille is a wonderful Quebecoise graphic novelist, whose candid and humorous book, Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman / Confessions d'une Femme Normale examines sexuality and self-love--especially as it bears on women, cis- and trans-. Linda begins with a reference to the feminist theory courses she teaches and some of the theorists, like Kimberlé Crenshaw, and how sometimes students say "do we need feminist theory any more?" Linda wants to unplug students from the Matrix (a reference to the film starring Keanu Reeves) and show them the gritty reality in which we live - yes, we STILL need feminism and Marseille is leading the way/the charge!

With thanks to James Healey, the recording engineer who set up the studio; Raphael Krux for music; and Marco Timpano, Sarah Henzi, and Benoit Cantin for giving this episode an advance listen!

****

Eloise Marseille est la première invitée de la saison 5 - oui, la saison 5 ! - et, cette fois, c'est en anglais ET en français (à partir de 31.55 pour l'entretien en français). Marseille est une merveilleuse écrivaine, dont le livre candide et humoristique, Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman / Confessions d'une Femme Normale, examine la sexualité et l'amour de soi, en particulier en ce qui concerne les femmes, cis et trans. Linda commence par évoquer les cours de théorie féministe qu'elle donne et certaines théoriciennes, comme Kimberlé Crenshaw, et comment les étudiants disent parfois "avons-nous encore besoin de la théorie féministe?" Linda veut débrancher les étudiants de la Matrice (référence au film avec Keanu Reeves) et leur montrer la réalité crue dans laquelle nous vivons - oui, nous avons ENCORE besoin du féminisme et Marseille montre la charge!

Merci à James Healey, l'ingénieur du son qui a installé le studio, à Raphael Krux pour la musique, et à Marco Timpano, Sarah Henzi, et Benoit Cantin pour avoir écouté cet épisode en avant-première!

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Michael V. Smith is a deeply loving, insightful poet and performer – who uses intimacy and humour as tools to explore pain. In this interview, Linda chats with him about power dynamics and bullying, as they address his poetry collection, Queers Like Me (published by Book*hug in 2023)

Here are some of the subjects we covered:  

• on the nature of creative writing and genre (6.15)
• poetic technique, poetic devices, and poetic voice (verbatim poems: 6.45, 8.00, 42.43)
• Facebook poem and writing about his father (9.35, 10.48, 27.50, 32.20)
• depictions of masculinity  (21.40 mistake with bike/book; 12.05, 21.25)
• The Floating Man (13.03, 27.10)
• Agnes Varda (12.12)
• Eloise Marseille (4.18)
• working across genres (16.25)
• Michael reads from “Grandma Cooper’s Corpse” (20.25)
• humour and contrast (22.42, 24.25)
• poetry and knowledge - the function of poetry (37.00)
• his chapbook (23.45)
• dynamics of power and bullying (32, 32.40, 33.40)
• the importance of nuance (34.50)
• gay marriage (36.08)
• Bronwen Wallace (38.30)
• Lorna Crozier (39.20)
• His memoir, My Body is Yours (40.38, published by Arsenal Pulp Press)
• radical inclusion (46.54)

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In this episode, Linda and Bryn Turnbull discuss her new historical novel, The Paris Deception - and what it means to represent women's lives historically when there has been inadequate records or representation for them.

Linda considers the Indigo Girls and their song about Virginia Woolf - and listening attentively to the voices of women through time. Turnbull alludes to The Monuments Men (both the movie and the book) and her novel as an equivalent for women to such a story. Among other topics, we address

• necessary deceptions (18.56)
• significant visual art work still missing since the Second World War (21.30)
• women are scapegoats during Second World War (27)

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What does the work of painter Renoir and his paintings of full-bodied women (2.15; 12.34), and tanning beds (2:30) have to do with the Quebecois author Marie Claire Blais (3:15) and La Belle Bette/Mad Shadows (3:20)? Have a listen to today’s episode to find out …

In this episode, Linda looks at Blais’s Mad Shadows and its historical importance to Quebec. Among other subjects, she also references:

Value Village, Holt Renfrew 1:3; 11:58 )

Sheila Fischman (3:45)

New Yorker (4:47; 16:11)

Margaret Atwood (4:58; 16:24 )

Andre Gide, Andre Breton (5:22; 17:04 )

Karen Kain, Veronica Tennant (6:08; 18:02)

Elle magazine (11:43)

Fluevog Shoes (11:48)

Quel est le rapport entre l'œuvre du peintre Renoir et ses tableaux de femmes épanouies (2.15 ; 12.34), et les lits de bronzage (2:30), et l'auteure québécoise Marie Claire Blais (3:15) et La Belle Bette/Mad Shadows ( 3:20) ? Écoutez l'épisode d'aujourd'hui pour le découvrir...

Dans cet épisode, Linda se penche sur La Belle Bette et son importance historique pour le Québec. Parmi d'autres sujets, elle fait également référence à :

Value Village, Holt Renfrew (1:3 ; 11:58)

Sheila Fischman (3:45)

New Yorker (4:47 ; 16:11)

Margaret Atwood (4:58 ; 16:24 )

André Gide, André Breton (5:22 ; 17:04 )

Karen Kain, Veronica Tennant (6:08 ; 18:02)

Elle magazine (11:43)

Chaussures Fluevog (11:48)

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In this -- the second live episode of Getting Lit With Linda held at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival and co-sponsored by the Quebec Writers' Federation -- Linda speaks with Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashi, Beaver Clan, of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation) about their book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, A White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation. The book has been receiving all manner of recognition. Here are some examples of the awards it has garnered:

• Winner – 2023 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize
• Winner – 2023 John W. Dafoe Book Prize
• Winner – 2023 High Plains Book Award for Indigenous Writer
• Winner – 2022 Manitoba Historical Society Margaret McWilliams Book Award for Local History
• Winner – 2023 Quebec Writers’ Federation Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction and Concordia University First Book Prize.

And deservedly so. In this interview, Douglas and Andrew explain how and why we have arrived at the present moment and how there is hope for finding the pathway toward meaningful reconciliation.

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Linda begins this episode with a brief acknowledgement of the passing of Nobel Prize winner for the short story, Alice Munro – who died a couple of days before this episode was aired. It's a pertinent moment to take pause when the subject of this episode is, in part, about anniversaries - which often include remembering when a beloved person dies or, as was the case only a few days ago, honouring a special person - like mothers on Mothers' Day. Who we choose to so honour and how we do so says a great deal about us, not just the persons we are honouring.

In this episode, Linda interview author Christopher DiRaddo about anniversaries, particularly the 10th one for his first novel, The Geography of Pluto, and his reading series (in Montreal), called The Violet Hour. Among other topics, they also discuss the following:

• family, role of and shape (11.40)
• Bronski Beat (16.50)
• His other book, The Family Way
• author Licia Canton (19.10; 21.45) and her support for Christopher
• Marisa Portolese's Goose Village (exhibit, 22.32)
• the titles and epigraphs of his novels (25.00), one from Le Petit Prince (27.30) and the other from a Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.

And there is a Takeaway in this episode - appropriately (in view of our discussion about anniversaries and commemoration) referencing the Canada Post stamps that honour graphic novelists in Canada.

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Indigenous mothers, Indigenous children, Indigenous parents – Willie Poll sees you – and she wants you to know that you’re enough.

In this episode of Getting Lit With Linda, Willie Poll (Metis Nation of Ontario) discusses with Linda why she wrote this children’s book, titled My Little Ogichidaa, and the source of inspiration for its creation – in large part, the Moose Hide Campaign (2:00).

The Moose Hide Campaign, which began as a BC-born Indigenous-led grassroots movement to engage men and boys in ending violence towards women and children, has since grown into a nationwide movement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians from local communities, First Nations, governments, schools, colleges/universities, police forces and many other organizations – all committed to taking action to end this violence.

Willie and Linda also discuss Willie's collaboration with illustrator, Hawlii Pichette, a Mushkego Cree (Treaty 9) urban mixed ancestry artist and illustrator who currently resides in London, Ontario. Linda asks her to explain the title for her book, which means "my little warrior" -- and how being a warrior is not necessarily incompatible with being loving.

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Linda has been mulling over what an education is, what purposes it serves. She was so curious about it that she begin to reflect on the etymology of the word. The root of “educate” comes from educe, from the Latin, meaning "to lead forth" or "lead out of," which then led her to think, leading out of … what? From where and to where? And who is doing the leading? For whom? And why? Weaving in her personal conversations and experiences alongside different cultural texts – from Valley of the Bird Tail to An Education to Tom Wayman’s “Did I Miss Anything?” – she ultimately focuses on M. NourbeSe Philip’s She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks to demonstrate the potential deleterious effects of an “education.” It is not always an innocent or innocuous process.

Also in this episode – our first giveaway ever! We have a book to give away in honour of Indigenous History Month. The first person to write to Linda (gettinglitwithlinda@gmail.com) with the correct response to the question Linda poses in this episode will receive a copy of Willie Poll’s (Metis) My Little Ogichidaa in addition to a gift from Getting Lit With Linda.

In the Takeaway, she notes that this episode is being released during Indigenous History Month, and so she recommends her listeners to visit the website, www.jelisautochtone.ca, which was produced by Dr. Colette Yellow Robe (member of the N. Cheyenne Nation in the USA), in addition to Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves.

References:

An Education, Scripted by Nick Hornby (3:55)

Willie Poll, My LItle Ochigidaa

Valley of The Bird Tail (4.40)

Emily Carr, Klee Wyck (5.15)

Clarke, Irwin’s expurgation of Klee Wyck (5:30)

Residential schools (6.15)

Re-education Camps, Vietnam (6:50)

Kim Thuy, Ru

Tom Wayman’s “Did I miss Anything?” (8:10)

M, NourbeSe Philip, She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks (9.50; 13.10; 15.10 )

Zong! (13:40)

“Discourse on the Logic of Language” (16.50)

Music: Raphael Krux (The Madness of Linda) and Brian Teoh (Finally See the Light)

Assistant Producer: Marco Timpano

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Linda speaks with Corinna Chong about her novel, Bad Land, published by Arsenal Pulp Press and long-listed for the Giller Prize. Chong, originally from Calgary, lives in Kelowna, B.C. where she teaches English and fine arts at Okanagan College. She published her first novel, Belinda's Rings, in 2013.

In her opening remarks, Linda explains why she sees the protagonist and main narrator, Regina, as … well, kind of “brat.” She's a fascinating, messy, and lovable character who has buried her life--and the secrets around that life--in the home in which she and her brother, Ricky, were raised ... until he shows up with his daughter, Jez, with a new secret of their own. The tensions that are produced open wide the secrets by the novel's end, revealing both the beauty and violence that have haunted Regina for years.

 Other sources of discussion or references include:

• Henry James’ What Maisie Knew (14.45)
• Aristotle (16:10)
• Nabokov, Lolita (18.30)
• Sinclair Ross, As For Me and My House (18.30; 19:30)
• Unreliable narrators (18:50)
• the geode (and archeology (25:25)

And a final reminder! Please vote for us in the Women's Podcasting Awards! Only a few days left!

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Linda opens with a word of thanks to her listeners who voted--because she is now a Finalist for the Women in Podcasting Awards.

This episode features an interview, which was live at Word on the Street in Toronto, with the writer of Mi'kmaq and settler descent, who published a novel, The Berry Pickers and, most recently, her short story collection, Waiting for the Long Night Moon (both published by published by Random House). It is a joyful and animated conversation, with an audience that was warm and supportive.

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A bilingual episode/un épisode bilingue. Linda opens with her delight about having won the Women in Podcasting Awards in Education - she effusively thanks her listeners!

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What kinds of books haunt us and why? In this episode, Linda considers Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach and Jessica Johns' Bad Cree, but ultimately picks a book that thoroughly haunted her - Michel Jean's Qimmik (published by Libre Expression, not yet translated into English). Author of Kukum (House of Anansi) and editor of Amun:A Gathering of Indigenous Voices, Jean addresses one of the legacies of a colonial past not frequently addressed. Set in Nunavik, the novel traverses two time periods--that are connected in ways that are completely unexpected and deeply moving.

Quels types de livres nous hantent et pourquoi ? Dans cet épisode, Linda choisit un livre qui l'a profondément hantée : Qimmik de Michel Jean (publié par Libre Expression, pas encore traduit en anglais). Auteur de Kukum (House of Anansi) et rédacteur en chef d'Amun:A Gathering of Indigenous Voices, Michel Jean aborde l'un des héritages d'un passé colonial qui n'est pas souvent traité. Situé au Nunavik, le roman traverse deux périodes qui sont reliées de façon tout à fait inattendue et profondément émouvante.

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In this episode, Linda converses with Jenny Haysom (2.48) about her novel Keep (published by Anansi). Featuring three main characters, the narrative is driven by the conflict that emerges when Harriet, an elderly poet, is diagnosed with the onset of dementia and must face selling her house -- and the two home stagers, Eleanor and Jacob, tasked with emptying it of its contents. Both Eleanor and Jacob are drawn into Harriet's world and the questions around what we keep, what we throw away, and what we value and why. It becomes clear why Haysom refers to this Victorian-esque novel as "a ghost story without ghosts."

The discussion also turns toward Haysom's literary debut as a poet and her collection Dividing the Wayside (4.15, published by Palimpsest Press) and the difference between writing poetry and writing novels (4.32).

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We are so grateful for the really enthusiastic response we have had to the podcast! We're coming right back - but, in response to some of our listeners's requests, we have provided you with a list of some of the writers (and a little time to read their books!) that Linda will be discussing in future episodes. 

Have some other suggestions for us? Drop us a line at gettinglitwithlinda@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter (@LLitWith) and Instagram!

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Our bodies hold memory: they contain narratives that exceed the present moment and extend back generations. This episode calls upon writer and host Linda's personal experience to understand and explore Madeleine Thien's remarkable novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, published by Knopf (a division of Penguin Random House). The Take-Away for this episode involves two collections by the Italian-Canadian poet, Gianna Patriarca -- Italian Women and Other Tragedies and Daughters for Sale, both published by Guernica Press.

Episode Credits:Writer and host: Linda Morra

Associate Producers: Linda Morra and Marco TimpanoMusic: Rafael Krux

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What does it mean to "Get Lit with Linda"? This episode introduces listeners to Linda and what she will be chatting about in future episodes--Canadian and other literary forms. Sometimes, she will also chat with literary writers and icons, to develop a broad sense of what "getting literature" really means.

Episode Credits:Linda Morra: Host & Writer, Associate ProducerMarco Timpano:  Associate ProducerRaphael Krux: Music

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In this episode, Linda begins by focusing on one of her personal favourites: DeNiro's Game by the award-winning, Quebec-based author, Rawi Have (with reference to two of his other novels). The "Take-away" section briefly recommends Megan Gail Coles's Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward's Gun Club published by the House of Anansi, while promising to look at other East-Coast writers in Canada in the future, including Alistair MacLeod, Michael Crummey, Lisa Moore, Donna Morrissey, and Michael Winter.

Episode Credits: Linda Morra: Host, Writer, Associate Producer Marco Timpano: Associate Producer Raphael Krux: Music 

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Using her expertise as a seasoned literature professor, Linda M. Morra develops provocative, timely insights about books from Canada and elsewhere to show why stories are relevant for all of us. Hosted and written by Linda Morra, produced by Linda Morra and Marco Timpano. Our podcast launches on August 19, 2020!

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