The Literary History Of Saskatchewan

Essays about the literary history of Saskatchewan.

Volume 3 shifts its focus to Regina’s literary culture and to the coming generation of younger writers, but it continues to examine the best work from Saskatchewan. The impact, the relevance, the illuminations of our best writers’ work tend to move well beyond the borders of our province. This work transcends the regional sources of its inspiration. Just as Marilynne Robinson has much to say to Canadians about the disruptions and the graces of family life, Dianne Warren has much to say to Americans about the omnipresence of the past, the shadows it casts on people’s lives in the present. Many of our best books are nurtured by the history and the life of this province, but they spring into literature roughly in proportion to their applications and their immemorial responses to the human condition.

Progressions presents another batch of erudite and entertainingessays on a variety of topics covering Saskatchewan’s literarydevelopment, as well as tributes to some of the major con-tributors to that history, and a pictorial glimpse into the past.Writers stopped using typewriters, and even moved beyond theKaypro computer box for their compositions. The SaskatchewanSchool of the Arts was shut down, ending the Fort San writingexperience. But the Sage Hill Writing Experience quickly rose toreplace it. Saskatchewan literary presses really found their feet andpublished important and lasting books. A wave of new writersjoined the founders of the province’s literary tradition. Respondingto this growth in the community, the Saskatchewan Book Awards,and the Saskatchewan Festival of Words in Moose Jaw came intobeing. The Saskatchewan writing community stormed out of the20th Century in a frenzy of creativity and accomplishment.Essay contributors to Volume 2 include Dave Margoshes, JeanetteLynes, Aritha Van Herk, Alison Calder and seven more. The elevenessays include such topics as “To House or House Not: The NewSaskatchewan Women Poets”, “Contemporary Nature Writing inSaskatchewan”, “Fort San/Sage Hill” and “Brave and FoolishNonconformists”. In addition, literary tributes are offered for:Caroline Heath, Pat Krause, Martha Blum and Max Braithwaite.

"The three volumes of this literary history constitute a bringing together of the best, the most influential, the most significant writing in our province... Many of our best books are nurtured by the history and the life of this province, but they spring into literature roughly in proportion to their applications and their immemorial responses to the human condition."Volume 3 shifts its focus to Regina's literary culture and to the coming generation of younger writers, but it continues to examine the best work from Saskatchewan. The impact, the relevance, the illuminations of our best writers' work tend to move well beyond the borders of our province. This work transcends the regional sources of its inspiration. Just as Marilynne Robinson has much to say to Canadians about the disruptions and the graces of family life, Dianne Warren has much to say to Americans about the omnipresence of the past, the shadows it casts on people's lives in the present. Many of our best books are nurtured by the history and the life of this province, but they spring into literature roughly in proportion to their applications and their immemorial responses to the human condition.

In Happyland, Curtis McManus contends that the "Dirty Thirties," actually began much earlier and were connected only peripherally to the Depression itself.

In Saskatchewan: A New History, award-winning author and historian Bill Waiser presents a fresh, entertaining account and interpretation of Saskatchewan's unique and captivating history. Writing with clarity, candor, and compassion, Waiser describes in detail his province and its people through the stimulating, often tumultuous years since joining Confederation in 1905. A gift to the province from the University of Saskatchewan, written in commemoration of the province's centennial celebrations in 2005, Saskatchewan: A New History tells, above all, the engaging stories of the people of Saskatchewan. Their wisdom, foresight, bravery, toil, and eternal optimism gave birth to one hundred years of extraordinary history. Waiser leaves no stone unturned as he records the events and stories of the people who experienced them: from the province's earliest days, when anything seemed possible; through the years of the Great Depression, when the prospect of greatness seemed all but lost; to the second half of the century, when an intense, at times bitter, debate raged over how best to govern Saskatchewan. Relying on the most up-to-date historical research available, he offers new perspectives on traditional views and tackles previously neglected, often difficult, concepts and events. "What is most striking about these images, aside from the richness of their color and the skillful use of light, are the happy, smiling faces. He could see things like no one else with a camera. He had an uncanny skill to set the scene. He caught people in everyday life and everyday activities and people wanted to have their picture taken by him." Generously illustrated with carefully selected archival images and two sixteen-page color inserts of commissioned photographs by Saskatoon's John Perret, Saskatchewan: A New History also pays a stunning visual tribute to the historical, urban, and natural splendour of Saskatchewan and its people. Includes: two 16-page color photo inserts by John Perret, 205 Black and White photographs and illustrations, 20 reference tables, 15 maps . . . and more. Saskatchewan Book Award for Non-Fiction nominee, 2005 Saskatchewan Book Award for Scholarly Writing nominee, 2005