Canadian Poetry Today: Contemporary Poets, Hyperlocal Literature, and Straggle
Sponsored by Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Recorded on 04/24/2023
Posted in The Authority File
Episode 313
In the final episode of this four-part series, Tanis MacDonald, professor at Wilfrid Laurier University and General Editor of the Laurier Poetry Series, reveals how she keeps up with the latest contemporary poets by relying on her well-read friends, publishers of her own poetry, literary events, and her students. Further, she discusses how the mission of the Laurier Poetry Series has evolved from preserving the work of previous generations of writers to expanding the Canadian canon to include BIPOC and LGBTQ poets who haven’t received the accolades or recognition they deserve. Next, she dives into her Watershed Writers podcast, which takes a hyperlocal lens to literature by interviewing authors in the Grand River Watershed area. Finally, she chats about her latest book, Straggle: Adventures in Walking While Female, explaining the inspiration behind the title, the political implications of walking in public or wild spaces, and the “if you know, you know” audience recognition of its themes.
About the guest:
Tanis MacDonald
Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies
Wilfrid Laurier University
Tanis MacDonald (she/her) is a Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. She is the author of three books of non-fiction and four books of poetry, and she is the General Editor of the Laurier Poetry Series. Her book The Daughter’s Way: Canadian Women’s Paternal Elegies was a finalist for the 2012 ACQL Gabrielle Roy Prize for Literary Criticism. She is the host and Artistic Director of Watershed Writers, a radio documentary and podcast that champions writers living and working in the Grand River Region in southwestern Ontario, traditional Anishnaabe and Haudenosaunee territories. Her latest book, Straggle: Adventures in Walking While Female, received an Honourable Mention in the 2022 Betsy Warland Between Genres competition.
Enjoy the conversation? Listen to the rest of the series:
- Introductions and the Laurier Poetry Series
- Teaching, Expanding, and Advocating for Poetry Courses
- The Art and Artist
Check out our previous series with Wilfrid Laurier University Press:
– Animal Studies, Postcolonial Literature, and Multispecies Modernity
– Unpacking the Personal Library
– Cultivating Indigenous Studies
– Michelle Porter and the Métis Way
– Looking at Community Music
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