“The Literary History of Saskatchewan: Volume 3 – Advances”
edited by David Carpenter and Kelly-Anne Riess
Published by Coteau Books
Review by Keith Foster
$29.95 ISBN 978-1-55050-954-0
The Literary History of Saskatchewan: Volume 3 – Advances is Coteau Books' third and final volume analyzing Saskatchewan's proud literary tradition. Compiling and assessing a literary history of the province isn't easy, especially when that history is ongoing. But editor David Carpenter, ably assisted by Kelly-Anne Riess, has done a commendable job in this Herculean task.
Carpenter divides Saskatchewan's literary history into three segments. Volume 1 traced the accomplishments of writers from the oral traditions of First Nations storytellers and early European explorers to the burgeoning Saskatchewan literary world of the 1970s. Volume 2 carried on with Saskatchewan writers and their writing styles from the 1980s to the end of the twentieth century. Volume 3 brings Saskatchewan's literary history up to date.
This three-volume scholarly study presents twelve essays by prominent Saskatchewan authors, with a heavy slant on Regina, where more than half of the essayists reside. All bring insights into Saskatchewan's literary psyche.
Carpenter's introduction is also a farewell as this collection is the last in the series under his superb stewardship. He notes that the methods of writing have changed drastically over the decades, with many upcoming writers “so young that they've never used a typewriter.”
Each decade seems to produce another bumper crop of emerging Saskatchewan writers. It is perhaps fair then to say this “final” volume of The Literary History of Saskatchewan: Volume 3 – Advances may be only temporary. As new crops of writers emerge, one hopes that future editors and publishers will reap another bountiful harvest similar to this one.
