Recognition and Revelation: Short Nonfiction Writings

by Margaret Laurence, Nora Foster Stovel (Editor), David Laurence (Foreword by), Aritha van Herk (Afterword)

Overview

Margaret Laurence, best known for her germinal novels set in the Canadian prairies, is one of the nation's most respected authors. She was also an accomplished essayist, yet today her nonfiction writing is largely unavailable and therefore little known. In Recognition and Revelation Nora Foster Stovel brings together Laurence's short nonfiction works, including many that have not previously been collected and some that have never before been published. These works, including over fifty essays and addresses that span Laurence's writing career from the 1960s to the 1980s, reveal her passionate concern for Canadian literature and for the land and peoples of Canada. Based on extensive archival research, Stovel's introduction contextualizes Laurence's nonfiction writings in her life as a creative artist and political activist and as a woman writing in the twentieth century. The texts range from essays on Laurence's own writings and on other works of Canadian literature to autobiographical essays, several focusing on environmental concerns, to sociopolitical essays and writing advocating for peace and nuclear disarmament. By revealing Laurence as a socially and politically committed artist, this collection of lively and provocative essays illuminates the undercurrents of her creative writing and places her fiction - often informed by her nonfiction writing - in a new light.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780228004769
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	09/23/2020
Series:	Carleton Library Series , #251
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Margaret Laurence (1926-1987), the recipient of two Governor General's Literary Awards, was the author of The Stone Angel, A Jest of God, and The Diviners.
Nora Foster Stovel is professor emerita, University of Alberta, and the author and editor of several books including Divining Margaret Laurence and Recognition and Revelation: Margaret Laurence’s Short Nonfiction Writings.

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

Editorial Reviews

Throughout the collection, Laurence's wry sense of humour, moral compass, and eye for the ridiculous and the subtly moving shine through. For anyone who loves her fiction, these writings will complement and deepen their relationship to one of our most important Canadian authors.” Montreal Review of Books


“In collecting all these essays, Stovel provides a sweeping and comprehensive look at an iconic Canadian writer which hasn't been previously available.” David Staines, University of Ottawa


“We have long needed such an edition of Laurence's uncollected essays and speeches, to make this important aspect of her oeuvre available to both scholars and the general public. Selecting among all these for a single volume is a daunting project, which Nora Foster Stovel has judiciously accomplished.” Carol Beran, Saint Mary's College of California

From the Publisher