Stephen Leacock, 1869-1944<\/h2>\r\n
Although he was born in England Stephen Leacock went to Canada as a young man and became a Canadian in every way. He was a teacher and a political scientist and eventually became the William Dow Professor of Political Economy and chair of the Department of Economics and Political Science at McGill University. He wrote several academic books and papers but in addition to those he wrote more than forty fiction books. He is particularly known as a humorist, his material used in their routines by the likes of Groucho Marx and Jack Benny. His comic tone was something like that of Mark Twain\u2019s and Charles Dickens\u2019, with his My Discovery of England<\/em> (1922) being as funny as anything they wrote. His novels and short stories are a mixture of parody, surrealism and nonsense \u2013 a style that satirizes city life, although in a gentle way.<\/p>\r\n Alfred Elton van Vogt was not only the pre-eminent Canadian science fiction writer but one of the most famous science fiction writers anywhere. Later writers, notably Philip K Dick, were influenced by his somewhat unorthodox style, where the prose is fragmented, requiring readers to piece it together as they read. He led the development of science fiction during the mid-century \u201cGolden Age\u201d of science fiction. The first of his many novels, Slan<\/em>, is still his most famous. It was published in serial form and captured the public imagination with the story of a nine year-old superman \u2013 a mutant human being – living in a world where his kind were murdered by normal humans. Van Vogt was named \u201dGrand Master\u201d in 1995 by The Science Fiction Writers of America.<\/p>\r\n Canadians claim Saul Bellow as one of theirs. He was born in Montreal and his family later emigrated to the united states, so he is claimed by both countries. His literary decorations included the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature and the National Medal of Arts. He also won the National Book Award for Fiction three times. His best-known novels include The Adventures of Augie March, Henderson the<\/em> Rain King, Herzog, Mr. Sammler’s Planet, Seize the Day, Humboldt’s Gift, <\/em>and Ravelstein. <\/em>His novels take on \u201cthe large-scale insanities of the 20th<\/sup> century.\u201d In awarding him the Nobel Prize the Committee cited his writing as exhibiting \u201cthe mixture of rich picaresque novel and subtle analysis of our culture, of entertaining adventure, drastic and tragic episodes in quick succession interspersed with philosophic conversation, all developed by a commentator with a witty tongue and penetrating insight into the outer and inner complications that drive us to act, or prevent us from acting, and that can be called the dilemma of our age.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Alice Munro is probably the most famous Canadian writer. She is primarily a writer of short stories and she was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 2013. Monroe writes about the lives of everyday people in a style that is compelling, lyrical, intense and economical, and yet uncomplicated. In that way, she penetrates the complexities in the lives of ordinary people. When she was awarded the Nobel Prize the Academy noted that she was \u201cmaster of the contemporary short story.\u201d Her most well-known collection of stories is Dance of the Happy Shades<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n It may seem strange to see the singer\/songwriter, Leonard Cohen, on this list. His genius and great fame as a performing song writer obscures his remarkable talent as a fiction writer. His novel, Beautiful Losers<\/em>, is a contender for the title \u201cgreat Canadian novel\u201d in that it presents an alluring account of Canada during a tumultuous time \u2013 Quebec separatism and the Aboriginal issues \u2013 all through the personal and sensual experience of a narrator. Leonard Cohen\u2019s fictions continue the themes of his music – \u00a0politics, religion, depression, death, sexuality and, above all, romantic relationships. In addition to numerous awards for his music, he received The Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He also became a Companion of the Order of Canada, the country\u2019s highest civilian honour<\/p>\r\n Margaret Atwood is the queen of Canadian fiction. She writes mainly about gender and power, and female identity. The rewriting of fairy tales and myths are prominent in her output. Her most recent work suggests that she is very interested in frightening visions of dystopias. Although Atwood has won many prizes she has not yet won the Nobel Prize . Her main prizes are the Booker prize, a Guggenheim fellowship and a Nebula Award.\u00a0 She has published 18 novels, 11 books of fiction, 9 collections of short fiction and several children\u2019s books. She has experimented with graphic novels and, to top it all, she has produced 18 books of poetry.<\/p>\r\n Michael Ondaatje has won more literary prizes than any other Canadian author. He is also the author of The English patient,<\/em> set at the end of the Second World War, in a hospital in Italy, and was one of the top international best-selling books and made into a blockbuster film. He has also published 13 books of poetry. In addition to that he is an editor and filmmaker. He has been an important force in fostering the movement \u201cnew Canadian writing.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Firestone was an extraordinary writer. Although she was more known for her activities and non-fiction writing, her last text was Airless Spaces<\/em>, 1998, a collection of short stories exploring her own experience of mental illness. She was famous in Canada as a radical feminist writer and activist. Most of her activities took place in the United States where her participation in and leadership, with fervour and passion, of such movements as New York Radical Women, Redstockings and New York Radical Feminists earned her the name \u201cThe Firebrand\u201d and \u201cThe Fireball.\u201d Her feminist books became central in the development of feminism and women\u2019s issues in Canada and America.<\/p>\r\n When Yann Martel sprang into the public consciousness as winner of the 2002 Booker prize with his novel Life of Pi<\/em> things moved very fast for him, almost immediately making him one of the best-known novelists in the English-speaking world. The novel became an international best-seller, spending more than a year on the best-selling lists of both The Globe and Mail<\/em> and the New York Times<\/em>. It has sold more than 15 million copies. The film adaptation, directed by Ang Lee, won four Oscars. The novel is an exploration of spirituality experienced by a child lost on the Pacific Ocean, accompanied by a tiger. All Martel\u2019s novels tell their stories using a first-person narration, which makes for closeness and a personal experience shared by narrator and reader.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n And that’s our pick of Canada’s best writers. What’s your take – anyone missing from this list you think we should add? Let us know in the comments section below.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So many of the best Canadian authors have taken their place in the world of literature, several, like those on this list, becoming world-renowned authors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,10,12],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2X1-post-image-46.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":622,"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions\/622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A.E. van Vogt, 1912-2000<\/h2>\r\n
![\"A.E.](\"https:\/\/thebookslist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/2X1-post-image-46.png\" "\\"\\"")
Saul Bellow, 1915-2005<\/h2>\r\n
Alice Monroe, b 1931<\/h2>\r\n
Leonard Cohen, 1934-2016<\/h2>\r\n
Margaret Atwood, b 1939<\/h2>\r\n
Michael Ondaatje, b1943<\/h2>\r\n
Shulamith Firestone, 1945 \u2013 2012<\/h2>\r\n
Yann Martel, b 1963<\/h2>\r\n
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