In December I posted a link to "DRIVEN Magazine" article on Joseph Boyden;Driven magazine Dec issue has a great article on Joseph Boyden the author of "Three Day Road" and this years Giller Prize winner for "Through Black Spruce".
In my haste to get the blog post out I totally missed the fact that on page 32 "DRVEN" also featured an exclusive short story by Mr. Boyden, called "Three Wiser's Men"
I wouldn't have known about this tasty tin bit of gritty Canadian Lit if it wasn't for Eric Grant the web editor for DRIVEN magazine,(Thanks Man!!) who saw my posting last month and was kind enough to let me know, thus letting me let you know about it.(You need to read the story!!)
Speaking of amazing Canadian Lit, last week I phoned in a request for an advanced reading copy of Charles de Lint's new novel "The Mystery of Grace". Yesterday it came in(Thanks Paula!!) and of course when I got home I started reading it and I must say it is amazing! The only thing I will give away is if you read "Promises to Keep" you'll enjoy "The Mystery of Grace". Also the main character Grace could be a grown up version of T.J. from de Lint's book "Little (grrl) Lost".(Which I think every library and high school should have a copy of!!) Anyways both these guys are great Canadian authors and we being Canadians are lucky to call them our own! If you haven't ready any of Charles's or Joseph's work I would recommend starting with "Born With A Tooth" and "Dreams Underfoot".
Born With A Tooth
Almost a decade after its original publication, award winner and Governor General Literary Award nominee Joseph Boyden's classic book of short stories is finally being reissued. Born With A Tooth, Boyden's debut work of fiction, is a collection of thirteen beautifully written stories about aboriginal life in Ontario. They are stories of love, unexpected triumph, and a passionate belief in dreams. They are also stories of anger and longing, of struggling to adapt, of searching but remaining unfulfilled. The collection includes 'Bearwalker', a story that introduces a character who appears again in Boyden's novel Three Day Road. By taking on a new voice in each story, Joseph Boyden explores aboriginal stereotypes and traditions in a most unexpected way. Whether told by a woman trying to forget her past or by a drunken man trying to preserve his culture, each story paints an unforgettable and varied image of modern aboriginal culture in Ontario. An extraordinary first book, Born With A Tooth reveals why Joseph Boyden is a writer worth reading.Dreams Underfoot
Welcome to Newford. . . . Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song. Like Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale and John Crowley's Little, Big, Dreams Underfoot is a must-read book not only for fans of urban fantasy but for all who seek magic in everyday life.
