Marcel Trudel Dies at 93

The great Harvard-trained historian, Marcel Trudel, passed away on January 11 at the age of 93. He influenced a generation of Quebec historians. He strove for intellectual freedom, first scandalizing the French-Canadian religious and academic establishment in 1945 with a ground-breaking book on Voltaire. In 1960, he shocked readers when his book, Deux siècles d'esclavage au Québec, revealed the prevalence of slavery in New France. His uncompromising research earned him much criticism as he fearlessly demolished the mythic versions of New France's heroes (i.e. Dollard-des-Ormeaux).

In 2002 Véhicule Press published Memoirs of a Less Travelled Road: A Historian's Life, translated by Jane Brierley, which won the Governor General's Award for Translation. In fall 2011 the press will be publishing the first English translation of Deux siècles d'esclavage au Québec by George Tombs.

Canadian Poetry Rebooted

It's finally here. Very happy to announce the Montreal launch of the controversial new anthology, Modern Canadian Poets, edited by Evan Jones and Todd Swift.

The evening will include readings by Evan Jones, Norm Sibum, Robyn Sarah, Anne Compton, Mary Dalton and David McGimpsey.

As anthologies go, this one is a big deal -- the first international one devoted to Canadian poetry in a half a century. Drop by and see what all the fuss is about.

Thursday January 13th 2011 from 7pm

Librairie Drawn & Quarterly

211 Bernard Ouest

Order of Canada

I'm delighted to announce that Christopher Wiseman -- author of 36 Cornelian Avenue, published in 2008 by Signal Editions -- has been named to the Order of Canada "For his contributions to the development of creative writing as a poet and professor." What a wonderful way to ring in the new year. (In fine western-Canadian newspaper fashion, the Herald chose to run this item in the Sports section.)