E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

Recently, a well-known literary journal in Canada, PRISM International , issued an apology for publishing a few poems by one Stephen Brown , after an editor of his was accused of insensitivity for supporting the ex-convict. It turns out, so said the apology, the magazine did not know, when they published his poetry, that he had been convicted of a vile murder years before; that he had done his time, and, released, started a new life, writing under a pseudonym, in Mexico. Once they had realised they had published a criminal, they apologised; and soon, the cancellers had Brown's poems removed from the national Parliamentary website set up to showcase Canadian poems. Stephen Brown was found guilty of having beaten a woman to death with another man - she was an Indigenous woman, Pamela George , and it was of course deeply painful to this decent community in Saskatchewan to know the killer was now free and apparently being feted by the great and good (the local university in Regi...

Canada has elected Justin Trudeau to be their new PM, in a sweeping and somewhat unexpected victory for the Liberals over the nasty Harper government, which was linked to right-wing elements in America and was a climate-change denying party opposed to Canadian multiculturalism.   After almost ten years of such conservative rule, Canada had begun to look like it was being run as a branch plant of Haliburton, and racism and environmental degradation was on the rise. Trudeau, the son of the greatest Canadian leader - Pierre Trudeau , a stylish pacifist intellectual who saw bilingualism and internationalism as the way forward for Canada - ran a flawless campaign, led by the brilliant Gerald Butts - a former debating partner of mine back in university days - a campaign which emphasised decency, community spirit, optimism, and fairness.   In a moment of calm sanity, Canadians voted out a terrible government and have ushered in a rule that promises to be balanced an...

This just in... "The Literary Scene Loses an Important Ally It is with deep sadness that we have learned of the death, on Feb. 14, of Judith Mappin , who helped put Canadian writing on the map and was a friend and loyal supporter of Blue Metropolis. In 1974, along with Hélène Holden and Joan Blake , Judy founded the Double Hook Book Shop , which specialized in literature by Canadian writers. For many Montreal writers and readers, the Double Hook became a home away from home. The shop survived – and thrived – until 2005, when it closed its doors. That same year, Judy received a President's Award of Distinction from the Association of Canadian Publishers, and in 2008, was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2013, Blue Metropolis paid tribute to her with a special homage. Through her devotion to and passion for Canadian writing, Judy made a major contribution to Montreal’s literary scene, and more broadly, to Canadian publishing. "

Hats off to the Montreal sisters - Dufour-Lapointe - who have just won Gold and Silver in the Mogul finals!  Great work ladies!  You have made Montreal, Quebec and Canada proud in one of the fairytale moments of any of the Games. http://olympic.ca/2014/02/08/justine-wins-gold-chloe-silver-dufour-lapointe-sisters-go-1-2-in-womens-moguls/

Finally, the country often considered too dull to notice, Canada, has won a Nobel Prize for Literature, not counting Bellow , and the winner is a deserving one - Alice Munro - a modest person who has lived most of her life in semi-rural Ontario (as the BBC put it), and in the process, become universal, without being provincial. Or overtly political. Canadians will know that we have had other late geniuses who might have been so laurelled - Mordecai Richler, Robertson Davies, Margaret Laurence, Gabrielle Roy, Morley Callaghan , AM Klein and PK Page come to mind, as do other expats like Wyndham Lewis or Malcolm Lowry .  Leonard Cohen might have been a lively and surprising choice, but if him, why not Dylan ? Of the living, younger generations, Atwood, Carson, Ondaatje , Martel , and George Elliott Clarke have been developing a considerable and viable international reputation .  Their dream is not to be this day.  Th is is a day for all Canadian writers and readers...

Sad news.  The great Canadian second wave feminist, Shulamith Firestone has died, at the age of 67.

Canada has changed.  No longer boring, it is now one of the richest countries in the world, with the largest reserves of oil after Saudi Arabia - alas, it is also becoming more conservative, in a Bush -like way.  The Canadian government has signalled it will not renew its Kyoto obligations.  Indeed, the decision (aided and abetted by the UK) to develop the Alberta Tar Sands, is horrific - if this goes ahead, dangerous global warming will be unstoppable.  I am not sure what to do, as an expat Canadian, except to say there is a new kind of international figure swaggering on the world stage: The Ugly Canadian - the Toxic Canuck.

Sad news.  The Leader of the Opposition in Canada, Jack Layton , has died, in his early 60s.  Layton was a popular, remarkable political figure, who managed to do the near-impossible, bring the NDP close to victory.  He will be much missed.

It might seem odd to be talking Canada on July 4, but the news from that mighty nation has been good of late, regarding the visiting Royal newlyweds.  Despite a few separatist rabble-rousers, their tour of Canada, and especially Montreal and Quebec City, has been delightful, and full of genuine warmth and curiosity. William   has spoken French, and Kate has expressed interest in Anne of Green Gables .  They have met the Huron chief.  They have sailed the St. Lawrence, that great river.  They've planted trees, welcomed new citizens - and carried it all off with ease, and charm, and energy.  Canada will remain loyal for the next century, if it keeps going like this - and no reason to think it won't.  Hopefully, this visit will inspire people in the UK to holiday in Canada.

Eyewear is very glad to celebrate Canada Day in London .  Apparently, there will be hockey and rock and roll music in Trafalgar Square all day.   Blue Rodeo , who I first saw at the McGill Ballroom a quarter-century ago, take the stage at half-nine tonight.  Meanwhile, the young newly-wed Royals are in Canada itself - that brash young nation, filled with natural resources (not least of which are its rugged optimistic and fair-minded people).  Storm clouds hover over the Rockies, though, and peril not even the Mounties can arrest lurks, in the news that the CBC mandate is up for review, and that venerable corporation, Canada's BBC, may be slashed ruthlessly by  Conservatives, twirling their mustachios.

You wouldn't know it, living in the UK, where the BBC did not this morning on its flagship radio news even mention it, but after a major national election, Canadians have woken up to an historically-new nation - for the first time since its founding, the Liberal Party is in third place, rather than forming either the government or the loyal opposition.  The Conservatives have rebounded and now form a solid, stolid and right-leaning fiscally-lean government; but the big news is the new second-place party: socialists - the NDP, always also-rans, though the social conscience of the nation - now form a viable government in-waiting, with over 100 seats.  Meanwhile, the separatists at federal level, the Bloc Quebecois, once a dire nemesis in Ottawa, have been wiped from the face of the Earth, left with four paltry seats, their leader, in tears, stepping down, after two failed decades; so too has the Liberal leader lost his seat, a smart blow-in from Harvard who never caught the nat...

Leslie Nielsen has died - sadly - and he must be rated, all things considered - one of Canada's greatest popular figures of the 20th century, along with William Shatner - a world famous comedian, and serious actor - who became globally synonymous with straight-faced hilarity.  Nielsen was the captain in my favourite shlock film, The Poseidon Adventure , whose reaction to the terrible capsizing wave later made him ideal in Airplane! - often voted by critics as one of the ten best comedies.  He will be missed.

Modern Canadian Poets: An Anthology has caused a bit of a national stir in Canada's media, with major columns in both national papers, The Globe and Mail , and now The National Post , dealing with it.  Both columns say the anthology is, ultimately great, but take it to task for a variety of faults, that, frankly, don't quite compute.  The reason - the commentators in Canada haven't read the book yet - it was launched a week ago in Britain, and is not yet available for sale in Canada (it will be in the new year), though review copies are now winging their way over.  Questions about its ethos, its evaluative methods, its remit, etc, are all explained in the Introduction - explaining why, for example, we include poems by French-Canadian poets for the first time in a Canadian anthology of English poetry in more than 20 years; or why we stop at the birth year 1962.  We discuss the younger generation, and encourage readers to pursue their work.  We also introduce a n...

This is an excerpt from an essay taken from Best Canadian Essays 2009 , edited by Alex Boyd and Carmine Starnino .  The 2010 anthology will be out soon, edited by Boyd and Kamal Al-Solaylee .  Worth investing in, I'd say. Get A Real Job In Grade 8, I joined an extracurricular social studies club called Project Business, designed to help young people learn about supply and demand economics. I signed up because Krista Copper was in it. She had brown feathered hair, eyes like a stunned deer, and wore a corduroy jacket buttoned right up to her chin, which gave her a look of impenetrability that I found alluring. We were to make peanut brittle and sell it at lunch hour, calculating the cost of the peanuts, sugar, molasses and labour time, and fixing a price that would recoup our costs or, even better, make a profit. The club was divided into three competing groups. I made sure I was in Krista’s, and she set the strategy. The key, she said, was the quality of our peanut brit...

Sad news, the American-born Canadian character actor Maury Chaykin has died.  His mother was Canadian, and he gravitated to Toronto in the 1970s, making his name as an ACTRA stalwart in any number of TV shows and films.  By 1990 he was making it into major movies, and at the end of his career, and life, was recognisable to a whole new audience for being on the popular Entourage .  Chaykin was physically striking, and unruly or slovenly, able to skew bad or simply schmuck as the script demanded - indeed, he was one of the great character actors of the last few decades.  Gifted with a superb voice and presence, he often stole the show.  He will be much missed.

Happy Canada Day.  In both official languages, and half an hour later in Newfoundland.  Also, today is the feast day of Saint Oliver Plunkett (I was married in a church named after him, in Blackrock).  Also, welcome to the deep summertime - enjoy it while it lasts these next eight weeks or so.  And, finally, take stock: this is the second half of the year - with autumn and December ahead now - and the first day of the rest of your life.  Well, okay, that last part was a bit much, but it is tempting to take it one day at a time, especially in the slowing laziness of this hottest and most humid of months.  As for Canada - it's doing well - it had a brash Olympics, has an economic model the Tories have stolen, and has a few good poets, some darn fine film directors, actors and comedians, and world-class prose writers.  Go on, Hug Shatner today, have a  beaver's tail.  Even, for a moment, imagine moving to Ottawa, world's safest, calmest capita...

Congrats to Karen Solie , fast becoming a fixture on the Canadian poetry scene, for her Griffin win.  Also, hats off to an Irish poet, who also won.  Maybe next time, the paper this links to can feature the International winner's photo instead - or is this the new Olympic Spirit of Grab That Podium or whatever that already-forgotten slogan was from those Winter Olympics?  Seriously, 130,000 Canadian dollars is a lot to fork out on two poets, and hopefully over time this prize will lead to people actually reading Canadian poetry somewhere beyond our borders, with anything approaching the love and enthusiasm they show for Scottish and Irish and Australian poets.  Canada is becoming a cool place, eh?  Now David Cameron wants to borrow our vicious cost-cutting methods from the Chretien years.  Will he start speaking in that funny way too?

A good Canadian blog has just run a feature on myself, rob mclennan and Marilyn Bowering , on the role and value and nature of anthologies, especially "Canadian" anthologies.  I am glad to be included in this group of poet-anthologists, and I think readers of Eyewear would find their comments of interest.

I am pleased to announce that Carcanet's Modern Canadian Poetry anthology, edited by Evan Jones and myself (Todd Swift) has been listed in the latest, and very attractive, catalogue from the superb small press.  It is available as a PDF.  Go to page 27 for more information on this book, forthcoming November 2010.

The University of Cambridge will play host this April 6-8 for the annual BACS conference . If there do look for the Vehicule Press books, including Language Acts and The New Canon .