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O Canada, American author sparks war of words O Canada! American author sparks war of words
(about 2 hours later)
How do you defuse an international literary incident? Well, for Gary Shteyngart it seems the answer is just to keep on cracking jokes.How do you defuse an international literary incident? Well, for Gary Shteyngart it seems the answer is just to keep on cracking jokes.
Things started getting heated north of the 49th parallel when the entertainment website Vulture asked the novelist if fiction writers should be subsidised.Things started getting heated north of the 49th parallel when the entertainment website Vulture asked the novelist if fiction writers should be subsidised.
"Let me say this," Shteyngart said. "I was the judge of a Canadian prize, and it's subsidised, they all get grants. Out of a million entries, we found four or five really good ones, but people just don't take the same damn risks! Maybe they want to please the Ontario Arts Council, or whatever it is.""Let me say this," Shteyngart said. "I was the judge of a Canadian prize, and it's subsidised, they all get grants. Out of a million entries, we found four or five really good ones, but people just don't take the same damn risks! Maybe they want to please the Ontario Arts Council, or whatever it is."
Cue anguished responses from Canadian literati. "What an odd, I will say ignorant, thing to say about Canadian literature, especially at this time!" Dorris Heffron, chair of the Writers' Union of Canada, told the Toronto Star. "These days, only a small percentage of Canadian writers get grants. Canadian literature is diverse in styles and content. Some of it attacks government and all kinds of authorities." And Giller prize winner Lynn Coady, author of Hellgoing, called it "a lazy fallacy to suggest we 'all get grants'".Cue anguished responses from Canadian literati. "What an odd, I will say ignorant, thing to say about Canadian literature, especially at this time!" Dorris Heffron, chair of the Writers' Union of Canada, told the Toronto Star. "These days, only a small percentage of Canadian writers get grants. Canadian literature is diverse in styles and content. Some of it attacks government and all kinds of authorities." And Giller prize winner Lynn Coady, author of Hellgoing, called it "a lazy fallacy to suggest we 'all get grants'".
No one seems all that bothered, with Coady later saying she has already forgiven Shteyngart for "talking smack about Canadian writing" and suggesting Canadians should "thicken our skins and move on". Shteyngart has been carrying out a wry mea culpa via Twitter, regardless. He was drunk, apparently.No one seems all that bothered, with Coady later saying she has already forgiven Shteyngart for "talking smack about Canadian writing" and suggesting Canadians should "thicken our skins and move on". Shteyngart has been carrying out a wry mea culpa via Twitter, regardless. He was drunk, apparently.
"Canadians, I was kidding about your literary non-edginess. As a nation that's home to both A Munro and Rob Ford, you contain multitudes," he tweeted. "What I was really trying to say to the reporter is that Canada's a glorious faraway country which we all love. #drunkenstupor", and "Like a fresh crack rock in a mayor's drawer, CanLit captures and refracts the beauty of the nation around it. There! I've blurbed CanLit!""Canadians, I was kidding about your literary non-edginess. As a nation that's home to both A Munro and Rob Ford, you contain multitudes," he tweeted. "What I was really trying to say to the reporter is that Canada's a glorious faraway country which we all love. #drunkenstupor", and "Like a fresh crack rock in a mayor's drawer, CanLit captures and refracts the beauty of the nation around it. There! I've blurbed CanLit!"
It's been a while since our World Literature Tour went to Canada, so perhaps a little refresher on what Shteyngart has dubbed "the edgiest writers north of the US!" is due. Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam is my most recent dabble in CanLit, and one I enjoyed immensely. I'm hoping you can point me in the direction of the latest Canuck edginess, grant-funded or otherwise. All hail the "True North strong and free".It's been a while since our World Literature Tour went to Canada, so perhaps a little refresher on what Shteyngart has dubbed "the edgiest writers north of the US!" is due. Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam is my most recent dabble in CanLit, and one I enjoyed immensely. I'm hoping you can point me in the direction of the latest Canuck edginess, grant-funded or otherwise. All hail the "True North strong and free".
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