Happy Canada Day Part 2! Here’s the final profiles of famous writers to help us get into the Canadian spirit.
Mordecai Richler is a figure who, despite his cantankerous persona, is one of the most influential writers to come out of Canada. Richler wrote novels, essays, travel articles, short stories, children’s books and screenplays, as well as being a highly successful journalist. Even though Richler died in 2001 aged 70, his popularity and presence are still felt to this day.
Born in Montreal in 1931 to a Jewish family, Richler’s often antagonistic personality was evident from an early age. He declared himself an atheist at the age of 12 and as a teenager joined the Zionist Habonim movement to spite his family. Richler attended Sir George Williams College in Montreal where he decided that he wanted to be a writer. However, he never finished his degree, instead leaving the country aged 19 and heading for Europe. After moving to Paris, Richler then settled in London where he wrote seven of his books. It wasn’t until 1972 that Richler moved back to Montreal on a permanent basis.
Richler’s notable works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959), Cocksure (1968), Joshua Then and Now (1980), Solomon Gursky Was Here (1989) as well as the Jacob Two-Two books for children.
To this day, Richler is still very popular in Montreal, but this adoration is opposed by nationalists in Quebec who are still angered by Richler’s outspoken mocking of their cause. During Richler’s time abroad, French Quebecers seized control of the province, desiring separatism and even went so far as to limit the use of English in favour of their preferred French. Their agenda became a key target of Richler’s scathing writing (he wrote a collection of essays entitled Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! Requiem for a Divided Country in 1992) which attracted much criticism and hostility from the nationalists.
The awards and recognition for his writing is extensive: Richler has won numerous accolades including two Governor’s General Awards (1969 and 1972 respectively); The Giller Prize literary award (1997); a Companion of the Order of Canada (2001), which is the second highest honour for merit and acknowledges contributions and achievements in every field; even as recent as 2011, Richler has received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Richler’s fiction often explores human nature, values and dilemmas through flawed characters. His writing adopts satire and humour, mocking a wide variety of people and groups. Unflinching and often controversial, Richler was one of the first Canadian writers to have his work recognised outside of Canada. Mordecai Richler is a true giant of the Canadian literary world.
We couldn’t profile famous Canadian writers without mentioning Margaret Atwood, could we? Arguably the most well-known Canadian writer, Atwood has produced over 40 volumes of poetry, non-fiction, fiction and children’s literature; her work has been translated into more than 40 languages. Additionally, she writes reviews and critical articles as well as screenplays and radio scripts, making her a diverse and exceptionally popular author.
Knowing that she wanted to write professionally, Atwood attended the University of Toronto where her stories and articles were published in a journal. Atwood obtained her master’s degree from Radcliffe College and proceeded to lecture at a number of universities.
Atwood’s first book was a collection of poetry titled The Circle Game (1964) which earned the author her first Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Although a prevalent poet, Atwood is best known for her novels which include The Edible Woman (1969); Surfacing (1972); The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) which gave Atwood her second Governor General’s Award; The Blind Assassin (2000) which won the Booker Prize; Alias Grace (1996), winner of the Giller Prize, and Oryx and Crake (2003) to name but a few.
Atwood has always been active in encouraging Canadian writers, and as such she was a founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada literary organization. She was also President of the Writers Union of Canada in 1981 and also President of PEN, Canada in 1984 for two years, further exemplifying Atwood’s devotion to nurturing Canadian talent.
If we’re talking big awards and recognition, they don’t come much higher than the Order of Ontario, which Atwood was presented with in the 1990’s in order to recognise her achievement and excellence in a field which benefits others.
Atwood’s work often includes strong female characters and uses devices such as symbolism to explore human behaviour, the relationship to nature, and power in terms of politics and gender. Atwood’s ability to present modern urban life and sexual politics has garnered praise from feminists who applaud her discussions of women’s issues.
Atwood’s writing is able to speak to both academics and the “average” reader alike, with no set genre to classify her work. Margaret Atwood has nurtured and promoted Canadian literature whilst simultaneously being a shining example of a rounded, exceptionally talented and enduringly popular author.