The Malahat Review's East Coast issue Reviewed

Over at The Review Review, Jenelle Hayward enthusiastically reviews The Malahat's Essential East Coast issue.

She says,

I have always been a fan of Canadian writers but this issue of The Malahat Review reminded me just how much I enjoy them. The writing was stunning and surprising with every turn of the page.

We here at The Fiddlehead wholeheartedly agree!

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And more great news to start the new year! The Malahat no. 180 gets reviewed over at New Pages! Here's part of what reviewer John Palen has to say:

For me, the collaboration between the two magazines helps to clarify the distinction between a literature limited by its regionalism and one brought alive by its sense of place. This issue of Malahat is definitely alive.

The Malahat & The Fiddlehead Featured on CBC Radio

CBC British Columbia recently featured The Fiddlehead and The Malahat Review on their weekday afternoon radio program All Points West.

State of the Arts columnist Jennifer Chrumka examined both the West Coast and East Coast issues, and she talks about the collaboration.

Listen to the podcast here.

On the podcast, you'll also hear Ross Leckie, editor of The Fiddlehead, speak about Atlantic literature, and The Malahat's editor John Barton and University of Victoria professor Nicholas Bradley discuss West coast literature.

Occupy Prose: Will Johnson in conversation with Linda Svendsen

Linda Svendsen's story, "Restoration," was published in The Fiddlehead's Essential West Coast Poetry and Fiction issue, #253. One of her UBC Master's in Creative Writing students, Will Johnson, interviewed her for our blog.



Linda Svendsen

"Restoration" is the story of a refugee from Burundi who is struggling to adjust to Canadian culture after surviving some horrific experiences in her home country. What inspired you to tackle this subject, and what sort of research did you have to do?

A decade ago, my husband and I co-produced and co-wrote a 6-hour miniseries for CBC called Human Cargo. It’s a drama, not a documentary. We’d spent a few years researching the Immigration and Refugee Board in Canada, attending hearings, and had also traveled to Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. We’d also done a fair amount of reading/interviewing of people who have survived torture, extreme loss, and exile.

You've developed a very distinctive voice for your main character. Did you find it hard, as a Canadian, to imagine an inner life for this character? Did you find it challenging to see things from her perspective?

A Successful East Coast/West Coast Halifax Launch!

Back row, left to right: Chris Donahoe, Warren Heiti, Matt Cornfield,
Peter Sanger, E. Alex Pierce, Carole Glasser Langille.
Front row, left to right: Heather Jessup, Lorri Neilsen Glenn, Brian Bartlett.

On Thursday, October 29, 2012, the University of King's College in Halifax hosted a launch for Halifax-area contributors to The Malahat Review's East Coast issue. Authors read their work from The Malahat and selected a piece from The Fiddlehead's West Coast issue to share with the audience. Our Halifax correspondant Brian Bartlett sent us a photograph and reports that it was a "fine, lively occasion."