Canadian Literature and Poetry in English

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer Literary and Poetic Culture

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries & Handbooks

The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Literature
Sugars, Cynthia, editor

A comprehensive, authoritative guide to many different genres, topics, and aspects of Canadian literary history, including gay and lesbian literature.

Available Online

PR9180.2 .O95 2016
Stacks

The Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage: A Reader’s Companion to the Writers and Their Works, from Antiquity to the Present
Summers, Claude J., editor

Includes an entry, “Canadian Literature in English”, pages 127–132, authored by Douglas Chambers. It outlines the history, publishing, as well as major works and authors associated with LGBTQ literary works and themes. A bibliography with further readings and related sources accompanies the article.

PN56 .H57 G35 2002
Reference

Anthologies

Desire, High Heels, Red Wine
Archer, Timothy, et al.

The writing ranges from the comedy of Sonja Mills to the lyrical poetry of Margaret Webb, from the dialogue of Sky Gilbert to the short stories of Timothy Archer.

Available Online
Sexing the Maple: A Canadian Sourcebook
Dickinson, Peter, and Richard Cavell, editors

A sourcebook that raises issues of nationalism and sexuality in Canada through a rich and diverse selection of fiction, poetry, criticism, and history.

The collection considers topics as wide-ranging as First Nations sexuality, censorship, assisted reproduction, and religion. It contains literary works by Alice Munro, Jane Rule, Timothy Findley, Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton, Lynn Crosbie, Michael Turner, and many others.

HQ 18 .C2 S395 2006
Stacks
Dykewords: An Anthology of Lesbian Writings
Lesbian Writing and Publishing Collective, editors

Texts in the collection are diverse, covering lesbian love, cultural identity, overcoming alcohol abuse, coming out, and lesbian history.

Available Online
Q2Q: Queer Canadian Performance Texts
Dickinson, Peter, et al., editors

A snapshot of Canadian contemporary queer performance practices-from playwriting to drag to performance art to spoken word to digital performance.

PR9196.37 .H65 Q28 2018
Stacks
Q2Q: Queer Canadian Theatre and Performance
Dickinson, Peter, et al., editors

This collection seeks to understand why it is important not just to continue to tell queer stories on stage, but also to piece together the larger historical narrative of Canadian queer theatrical production and reception through academic research. Contributors include Kym Bird, Sky Gilbert, Moynan King, Evalyn Parry, Richie Wilcox, Jay Whitehead, T. Berto, Eury Chang, Cameron Crookston, Spy Dénommé-Welch, Dirk Gindt, Stephen Low, Sean Metzger, Cordula Quint, Trish Salah, Sarah Garton Stanley, and Laine Zisman Newman.

PN2219 .G39 Q47 2018
Stacks

History, Literary Interpretation & Criticism

Queer Canlit: Canadian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Literature in English: An Exhibition
Rayter, Scott, et al.

Includes an essay on Queer CanLit by Scott Rayter, illustrations, bibliographical references, and photographs of the exhibition.

Available Online

PR9188.2 .G39 R39 2008
Stacks

“Queerly Canadian: Introduction”
Stewart, Janice
Available Online
Here is Queer: Nationalisms, Sexualities and the Literatures of Canada
Dickinson, Peter

Considers how the interconnected concepts of nationalism and sexuality have helped shape the production and reception of Canadian and First Nations literatures.

PR9185.5 .H6 D52 1999
Stacks
Small Things: A Random Selection of Anti-Essays
Gilbert, Sky
PR9199.3 .G5248 A6 2018
Stacks
War Is Here: the Vietnam War and Canadian Literature
McGill, Robert

In the chapter entitled “Queering Canada,” McGill examines the role of American draft dodgers as queer figures in three Canadian novels: Morton Redner’ Getting Out, Mark Satin’s Confessions of a Young Exile, and Timothy Findley’s The War.

Available Online


Stacks

Cultural Grammars of Nation, Diaspora, and Indigeneity in Canada
McCall, Sophie, et al., editors

Examines how the terms of critical debate in literary and cultural studies in Canada have shifted with respect to matters of race, nation, and difference.

Available Online

PR9188.2 .M55 C84 2011
Stacks

reviewed & updated 11 November 2021 | compiled by Agatha Barc

Last updated: October 27, 2023