Table of Contents
Chronology xi
Foreword David Laurence xv
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction: "A Natural-Born Reformer" xix
Notes on the Text xliii
Part 1 Essays about Laurence's Writing: "Gadgetry or Growing"
Sources (1970) 3
Ten Years' Sentences (1969) 8
Time and the Narrative Voice (1972) 15
Half War - Half Peace: A Writer's Working Relationship with Publishers (n.d.) 20
Gadgetry or Growing: Form and Voice in the Novel (1980) 28
On "The Loons" (1993) 38
Eye on Books; The Writer as Performer (n.d.) 40
A Tale of Typewriters (1984) 45
Ivory Tower or Grassroots? The Novelist as Socio-political Being (1978) 50
Part 2 Personal and Creative Essays: "The River Flows Both Ways"
Where the World Began (1972) 63
Love and Madness in the Steel Forest (1969) 69
Upon a Midnight Clear (1974) 74
Don't Whisper Sudden; T Scare Easy (1969) 80
The River Flows Both Ways (1971) 87
Salute of the Swallows (1971) 92
The Shack (1974) 97
A Fantasy Fulfilled (n.d.) 101
The More Interesting Country (n.d.) 104
Down East (1971) 114
Journey from Lakefield (n.d.) 119
Part 3 Essays on Canada and Canadian Literature: "The Case for Canadian Literature"
Canadian Novels: Change in the Past Decade (1967) 127
Canada Still Too Canada-Focused (1966) 137
Voices from Future Places (1972) 143
The Case for Canadian Literature (1977) 150
Canadian Writers: From Neglect to Special Treatment (1970) 154
When You Were Five and I Was Fourteen (1985) 158
Books That Mattered to Me (1981) 161
(a) Introductions to New Canadian Library Editions
Afterword to Sinclair Ross, The Lamp at Noon and Other Stories (1968) 173
Introduction to Jack Ludwig, Above Ground (1973) 178
Introduction to Percy Janes, House of Hate (1976) 184
Introduction to Adeie Wiseman, Crackpot (1978) 189
(b) Unpublished Speeches and Tributes
W.L. Morton - A Tribute (1981) 199
Tribute to Malcolm Ross (1982) 201
Clara Thomas … Biographer, Teacher, Critic … and Pioneer (1984) 203
Lois Wilson (1984) 207
For Marian Passmore Engel (1986) 210
Madeleine Wilkie Dumont (n.d.) 212
YWCA Woman of the Year Award (1985) 214
Part 4 Essays on Nuclear Disarmament: "The Most Pressing Practical, Moral, and Spiritual Issue of Our Times"
A Message to the Inheritors (n.d.) 221
A Matter of Life or Death (1982) 226
The Artist Then, Now, and Always (1984) 231
A Statement of Faith (1982) 234
"Peace": A Word's Meaning (1986) 239
Operation Dismantle (1982) 242
My Final Hour (1983) 246
Part 5 Socio-political Essays: "Listen, Just Listen"
"Listen, Just Listen" (1977) 259
Quebec's "Freedom" Is a Vital Concern, but Freedom Itself Is That and More (1978) 265
Open Letter to the Mother of Joe Bass (1968) 268
The Greater Evil: Pornography or Censorship? (1984) 272
Statement - PEN (1985) 280
A Constant Hope: Women in the Now and Future High Tech Age (1985) 283
Afterword: Rediscovering Margaret Laurence Aritha van Herk 291
Annotations 297
Works Cited 325
Index 335