Guest Post at Canadian Bookshelf
Today I’m the guest blogger at Canadian Bookshelf, the “the one-of-a-kind resource for discovering, discussing, and indulging in Canadian books.”
An excerpt:
Pity the essay—so undervalued that nobody recognizes it. We pass it by without a nod, or imagine we see it in a dozen other faces. “Ah, there you are! I’ve been looking for you! We must catch up,” we say, pumping a hand or slapping a rounded shoulder, all the while checking our watch in anticipation of our next appointment. Nobody wants to read the essay. Nobody wants to buy it. It’s so unpopular that in the 2012 Canada Reads—the first nonfiction edition ever—books of essays are explicitly ruled out.
Tags: Canadian Bookshelf, Essayists, Essays
October 19th, 2011 at 10:16 pm
Ah, Susan, it’s a fine piece — and the essay is lucky to have you to write in praise of it. I’m not convinced that no one wants to read them though, despite the Canada Reads explicit exclusion! Maybe we’re just a quiet crowd, burrowed into our New Yorkers and sitting at our computers reading the latest post at Notting Hill (have you read John Berger’s gorgeous Cataract, by the way, publishing by Notting Hill Editions? Every essay should be so lucky — illustrated, cloth bound, thoughtfully designed). Still, I think there are more readers than we might imagine. Anyway, your essay is wonderful.
tk
October 19th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
Thanks, Theresa, but it’s hardly an essay. A blog post is all! But that’s okay. I was happy to have a chance to mention your book.
And I hope you are right; our readers are out there.
October 20th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
Hi Susan. I like your post at Canadian Bookshelf. This is my first visit to your site. I found it through Kathleen Wall’s Blue Duets. I’ll be back.
October 21st, 2011 at 11:47 am
Leona, thank you so much; I’m a great admirer of your writing!