Producing Canadian Literature: Authors Speak on the Literary Marketplace by Kit Dobson and Smaro Kamboureli (review)

Producing Canadian Literature is a collection of interviews with a carefully chosen sample of writers seeking to shed light on the political economy of the Canadian literary marketplace. Although each of the interviews is different, the overall argument of this TransCanada Series book is that ‘market-driven factors increasingly shape the publication, dissemination, and reception of Canadian writing’ (p. ii). The authors skilfully tease out a convincing case through their questioning, although a more detailed introductory chapter or the inclusion of a concluding chapter discussing the interviews collectively could have strengthened this even further.

Focusing directly on writers (rather than on publishing houses or readers) allows the gathering of insightful and perceptive descriptions of how political economy affects writing, as well as how they see their position within its overall framework of power. The range of writers interviewed is impressive: there is young experimental poet Christian Bök; established novelist Jane Urquhart; First Nation writers Lee Maracle and Daniel Heath Justice; ‘minority’ writers Ashok Mathur and George Elliott Clarke; academics Larissa Lai, Aritha Van Herk and Stephen Henighan; and Erin Mouré. Issues covered include the impact of funding on writers; the effect of agents, editors and publishers when creating novels; the process of selling novels in Canada and abroad; and the effect of literary awards on (subsequent) novels.

The biggest strengths (and the biggest weakness) of Producing Canadian Literature are related to its short, semi-structured interviewing style. The relatively short interviews force a corresponding economy of words which helps keep a sharp focus on the issues under discussion. By having a similar set of questions for each of the interviewees, Dobson and Kamboureli are offering the opportunity to compare the wide range of experiences which the writers have with funding bodies (particularly Canada Council) and other cultural institutions as well as individuals involved in the writing process. However, the interviews are best when they wander slightly from the prescribed list of questions. For example, when interviewing Christian Bök, a general question on funding provokes a fascinating response when it is followed up with a question on whether funding bodies work to normalise literary taste (p. 13). Bök’s answer raises many interesting issues related to cultural power and the construction of Canadian (national) identity. However, the disadvantage of the interview approach used in Producing Canada is that responses like this are not able to be probed even further (as they would be in longer interviews) nor are they discussed. The interviews were conducted between 2006 and 2008 preceding the recent fast growth in (online) self-publishing and e-books which one suspects would make for a substantially altered political economy analysis. Notwithstanding these limitations, Producing Canada will be of interest to those interested in how the Canadian literary marketplace works and is an excellent, original contribution to the field.