The Future of Quebec Writing documents, news

6 May 2011

In advance of this weekend's Forum on Creative Writing in Quebec, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec CALQ has made some documents on writers and writing available on its Website.

These include:

Constats du CALQ no 20: Portrait du soutien du Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec au secteur de la littérature et du conte au Québec;

Optique culture no 3, mai 2011, Les écrivains québécois : un aperçu statistique de l'Observatoire de la culture et des communications du Québec;

Conseil des arts de Montréal document on the literature sector.

Conseil des arts du Canada statistics;

Regroupement du conte au Québec findings and statistics on storytellers in Quebec.

The Opening panel discussion (May 6, 5.30 p.m.) and the Plenary Session (May 8, 10.30 a.m) will be webcast live.

The six workshop themes will also be the subject of Facebook discussions this weekend, and highlights tweeted #FCLQ.

Linda Leith

.ll.

A Joy to Read

Kenneth Radu remembers New York while reading Ariela Freedman's Brooklyn-set A Joy To Be Hidden.

A Funeral in the Time of Covid

Funerals in Covid times take on a special character. Norman Ravvin writes about what a Jewish funeral is like now, a theme he considers on Polish ground in his recent novel, The Girl Who Stole Everything.

A Wake-up Call on the State of Canada's Publishing Industry, by Linda Leith

The D&M story should be a wake-up call to Canadians. Canadian literature has thrived nationally and internationally thanks to measures put in place to support Canadian writing and publishing. The measures currently in place, though, were designed for a bygone era. It’s time to revisit those measures, and fast.

Photo: Eléonore Delvaux-Beaudoin

An Outsider Publisher, by Linda Leith

Dennis Johnson of Melville House Books, who sees himself as an outsider, is critical of the mainstream of American publishing. He's one of the more original voices in contemporary publishing.