About the Book
"How Stories Mean" gathers together criticism and theory written by short story writers themselves. Several of the essays were newly written for this book. The essays document the establishment and growth of the story form in Canada over the last twenty-five years but the collection is far more than archival. It offers endless insights into how writers write and how they wish to be read. In discussing the nuts and bolts of their craft, the writers are inviting us into their workshops so that we can see how stories are made and come to a more intimate understanding of them. "How Stories Mean" is the one indispensable book for all those interested in the short story in Canada. The contributors include: Margaret Atwood; Clark Blaise; George Bowering; Keath Fraser; Mavis Gallant; Jack Hodgins; Hugh Hood; Norman Levine; John Metcalf; Alice Munro; Leon Rooke; Carol Shields; Ray Smith; Audrey Thomas; and Kent Thompson.
Table of Contents:
J.R. (Tim) Struthers, Metcalf & Co. John Metcalf, A Wine-drenched Shout Kent Thompson, The Canadian Short Story in English and the Little Magazines: 1971 Hugh Hood, Get Yourself a Reputation, Baby! John Metcalf, Editing the Best Kent Thompson, Academy Stuff Ray Smith, Dinosaur Carol Shields, Is There a Feminine Voice in Literature? Carol Shields, The Same Ticking Clock Carol Shields, News from Another Country George Bowering, Undone Tradition Ray Smith, Werner Who? Hugh Hood, Sober Colouring: The Ontology of Super-Realism Audrey Thomas, Basmati Rice: An Essay about Words Audrey Thomas, Basmati Rice: Part Two Mavis Gallant, What Is Style? John Metcalf, Interview: Clark Blaise John Metcalf, Soaping a Meditative Foot: Notes for a Young Writer Norman Levine, The Girl in the Drugstore George Bowering, How To Write Jack Hodgins, Some Thoughts on Writing Fiction: Brief Notes to Myself Leon Rooke, Author's Commentary on 'If Lost Return to the Swiss Arms' Clark Blaise, To Begin, To Begin Clark Blaise, The Cast and the Mould Clark Blaise, On Ending Stories Margaret Atwood, Happy Endings Norman Levine, An Afterword to 'A Small Piece of Blue' and 'We All Begin in a Little Magazine' Kent Thompson, Author's Commentary on 'Perhaps the Church Building Itself' Hugh Hood, Floating Southwards Alice Munro, Author's Commentary on 'An Ounce of Cure' and 'Boys and Girls' Alice Munro, The Colonel's Hash Resettled Alice Munro, On Writing 'The Office' Ray Smith, Author's Commentary on 'Colours' Jack Hodgins, Breathing from Some Other World: On Writing the Spit Delaney Stories Norman Levine, Sometimes It Works Keath Fraser, Notes toward a Supreme Fiction Leon Rooke, is you is or is you ain't my baby: canadian fiction against the headwinds Carol Shields, Arriving Late: Starting Over John Metcalf, Punctuation as Score Keath Fraser, Nazca Keath Fraser, When Is Style Moral? Keath Fraser, Becoming Complicit George Bowering, Stained Glass Hugh Hood, Practical Formalism: Mining the Sentence John Metcalf, That Damn Clock Again Ray Smith, Trust Me -- Have I Ever Told You a Fiction Before? Alice Munro, What Is Real? Kent Thompson, Reading & WritingBiographical Notes.
About the Author :
John Metcalf was born in Carlisle, England, and was educated at the University of Bristol. He emigrated to Canada in 1962. In addition to working on his own writings (novels, stories and essays), he held for many years the unsalaried post of Senior Editor of the Porcupine' Quill. John Metcalf is the editor of Canadian Notes and Queries and book publisher Biblioasis. He resides in Ottawa with his wife, Myrna. J. R. (Tim) Struthers has won wide recognition for his efforts as a bibliographer, interviewer, critic, editor, and publisher. He completed a Ph.D. in English at the University of Western Ontario with a specialization in Canadian literature, was awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada post-doctoral fellowship for study of the works of Hugh Hood, then joined the Department of English at the University of Guelph on July 1, 1985. He is the editor of three critical books: Before the Flood, a volume of criticism on Hugh Hood; The Montreal Story Tellers, a collection of autobiography and criticism; and New Directions from Old, a volume of criticism on Canadian short fiction. He has also prepared the two-volume anthology The Possibilities of Story and, with John Metcalf, the collections Canadian Classics and How Stories Mean. As an editor for The Porcupine's Quill and as the publisher of Red Kite Press, J. R. (Tim) Struthers has arranged for and supervised the publication of a considerable number and variety of books of criticism and literature.
