Books news columnist pens final chapter

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/08/2023 (1118 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An organization that brings Canadian, American and Kenyan writers together is presenting online seminars with Manitoba authors David A. Robertson and Zilla Jones, as well as Stuart Ross, winner of this year’s Trillium Prize for books by Ontario writers.

The group International Literary Seminars is offering the sessions Thursday, Sept. 7, with Robertson, Thursday, Oct. 5, with Ross, and Thursday, Nov. 2 with Jones. The organization holds an in-person writing seminar in Kenya in the winter.

To take part in the first of the Canlit series, see wfp.to/NQC.

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Three writers who’ve previously been shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour are in the running for this year’s edition of the prize.

Susan Juby, who won the award in for her 2015 novel Republic of Dirt, is shortlisted along with Little Mosque on the Prairie creator Zarqa Nawaz, who was shortlisted for her 2014 memoir Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, and Newfoundland historical novelist Wayne Johnston, who was shortlisted for the award in 2014 for his novel The Son of a Certain Woman.

Their shortlisted books this year are Juby’s Mindful of Murder, Nawaz’s Jameela Green Ruins Everything and Johnston’s Jennie’s Boy. The winner will be announced Sept. 16.

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U.S.-based Canadian novelist Patrick deWitt visits Winnipeg Tuesday to read from and discuss his latest novel, The Librarianist.

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A writer known for applying humour and pathos in a wide range of settings — from the California Gold Rush violence of The Sisters Brothers to the gothic mystery of Undermajordomo Minor to the faded high society of French Exit — deWitt focuses in his new novel on a book-loving introvert.

He discusses the book at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location, starting at 7 p.m., with Chris Hall.

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And now, a final personal note: this week’s column is my last.

After writing some 570 Paper Chase columns in 11 years, I’ve written about 3,000-plus book launches, readings, award announcements, literary controversies, writer-in-residence appointments and other bits of new from the literary world.

I’ve focused the column, as much as possible, on Manitoba’s writers, publishers and readers. It wouldn’t be possible to fill a column largely with local book news without a thriving community of authors, illustrators, editors and publishers, without libraries and festivals and educational institutions that support writing, without active literary festivals and literary organizations, without a hometown bookstore that’s much more than just a store, and, of course, without people who love books.

Over the past 11 years I’ve followed change and evolution in the literary world. Literary prize culture has continued to grow, and I suppose this column has played a small part in building a literary world in which a book needs at least to be award-shortlisted to have any visibility. I’ve witnessed the growth of self-publishing. I’ve watched the rise of the memoir genre. I’ve seen e-readers rise, then plateau, and I’ve seen (and heard) the boom in audiobooks. I’ve tracked the remarkable growth in diversity in the book industry.

I leave Paper Chase as angry conflicts over books in libraries — something that used to seem like one of those strange southern American phenomena, like gun culture or child beauty pageants — arrive in Manitoba. I’m retiring from writing about a literary world in which growing numbers of writers, publishers and influencers appear to view literature more as an adjunct of social work than as art. I leave as the number of Canadians who wish to be writers continues to increase and as the ability of a writer to earn a living from words continues to decrease. In my rearview mirror I see dark clouds over the future of Canada’s largest book retailer and a darker-still cloud – AI – that hangs over the future of all creative endeavours.

But whatever news comes from the literary world in the years ahead, I remain confident that the human desire to tell stories — something as ancient as Paleolithic cave paintings — will keep writers banging out words and readers turning pages. Happy reading!

booknewsbob@gmail.com