We are thrilled to announce our newest issue of Canadian Literature, Issue 258/259, a special double issue on How to Be at Home in Canada: Placemaking in Indigenous, Diasporic, and Settler Texts! In this issue’s editorial, guest-editors Heather Macfarlane, Sophie McCall, and Basmah Rahman write:
Diasporic populations negotiate complex relationships between their ancestral lands of origin and adopted homeland of Canada, which, while it claims to welcome diversity through its multicultural policies, systemically excludes Indigenous, Black, and racialized populations. Indigenous communities struggle to escape the colonial project of Canadian nationhood while asserting their own sovereign affiliations and rights to land. White settler populations, meanwhile, undertake the contradictory task of acknowledging their history as colonizers while simultaneously finding a place of belonging. The articles in this double issue consider narratives from communities in Canada that assert or contest relations between land, story, ownership, and belonging—in both rural and urban environments, and in forms as varied as traditional Indigenous stories, religious documents, poetry, prose fiction, and government policy.
This issue also features:
- Articles by Kristina Fagan Bidwell, Isabella Huberman, Sarah Wylie Krotz, Jhordan Layne, Nicole Flores, Melanie Braith, Basmah Rahman, Olivia Abram, Jaron Judkins, Laurel Ryan, and Tianne Jensen-DesJardins
- Poetry by Suha Kudsieh, Tannaz Taghizadeh, Susan McCaslin, Padmaja Battani, Anna Veprinska, Joanne Epp, Jen Colclough, Derek Webster, Shyanne MacDonald, Ling Ge, Jeevan Bhagwat, and J. Iribarne
- Book reviews by Neil Surkan and Alessandra Capperdoni
The new issue can be ordered through our online store at https://canlit.ca/support/purchase/single-issues/.
Excitingly, we’ll be hosting a virtual launch for this special issue on Friday, June 20th, 2025, at 11am (PST) / 2pm (EST)! The event will be held over Zoom, and is free and open to all. Please RSVP here by Friday, June 13th.