Over its history, Canadian Literature very occasionally published letters to the editor. None of our editors has ever been too keen on the form. Frequently, angry responses have been sent to us—and then retracted several weeks later—an indication that the genre is often fraught.
But the creation of this website and the reasonably prompt publication of all reviews on the site suggest that experimenting with a “Forum” is in order. Forum implies exchange: before a “letter” or response appears here, the reviewer or author of a piece will be informed, and be offered the chance of rebuttal.
We have little enthusiasm for unending exchanges. Personal websites, blogs, and listservs are full of these. They run quickly out of energy and interest. Our inclination will be to take a response, send it to the author of the piece for response, and end the exchange with response and response.
Both the original response and the rebuttal, if any, may be edited. The primary objective in editing would be to publish about “issues” and not about personalities. We want to avoid personal animosity, real or implied. Length is also a concern. We do not impose an absolute length, but in general prefer elegant-letter length, about 250-500 words.
(—Laurie Ricou, Editor of Canadian Literature, 2003-2007. Editor responsible for creating the Letters Section.)
Submission Guidelines
- Approximately 250-500 words in length.
- Submit as .doc or .rtf to cl.info@ubc.ca.
- Canadian Literature is not responsible for the opinions and views stated by the contributors.
- Inflammatory letters and personal attacks will NOT be published.
- If your letter is in response to Canadian Literature content, the original author will be contacted and given the chance for rebuttal before any publication.
- Canadian Literature reserves the right to reject any letter.
- Canadian Literature reserves the right to edit for content and clarity.
Letters
- Culture and Confusion: Len Findlay’s Review of Concepts Of Culture: Art, Politics, and Society (Posted June 12, 2009 by Adam Muller, University of Manitoba)
- Bloody Words (Posted on June 11, 2009 by Louise Penny)
- “Done with multiculturalism?”: Putting Canadian Attitudes towards Immigration to the Test (Posted on May 26, 2009 by Peter Schneck, University Osnabrück)
- Canada – Land of Longing (Posted on May 26, 2009 by Thomas Kraft)
- Literary Scenes in Canada (Posted May 25, 2009 by Ian Rae)
- Meeting the Author (Posted on December 2011 by Carole Langille)
- Response to A Children’s Book Author in Academe (Posted on June 29, 2006 by Daniel Bratton, Doshisha University)
- Response to A Children’s Book Author in Academe (Posted May 3, 2006 by Sandra Djwa)
- A Children’s Book Author in Academe (Posted on March 7, 2006 by Heather Kirk)
Collections
Munich Spring Book Fair: Gastland Kanada (2008)
- But, I dream in Canadian (Posted August 28, 2009 by Madeleine Thien)
- An Encounter with the Literary Scene of Quebec (Posted on May 26, 2009 by Thomas Lang)
- Non-Fiction, Non-Fame, Non-Fortune (Posted on May 26, 2009 by Heather Pringle)
- Tricksters on Stage: Contemporary First Nations Theater and Drama in Canada (Posted on May 26, 2009 by Birgit Däwes)
- The Subversive Art of Quotation Marks (Fragments of the East European artist) (Posted on April 28, 2009 by David Albahari)
- A Possessive Love (Posted on April 28, 2009 by Bernadette Calonego)
- Jewish Writing in Canada (Posted on April 28, 2009 by Peter Stenberg)
- From “Khodadad Building” to “Gerrard Street”: Indo-Canadian Literature In-Between Worlds (Posted on April 28, 2009 by Dr. Kerstin Schmidt, University of Munich)
- Canadian Biography: Theory, Practice, Form (Posted April 28, 2009 by Ira B. Nadel)
- On Being Canadian (Posted April 28, 2009 by Rudy Wiebe)
- Munich Spring Book Fair: Gastland Kanada (Posted on December 12, 2008 by Peter Stenberg, UBC)
