Former U of A Writers-in-Residence Richard Van Camp (2011-12) and Shani Mootoo (2001-02) will be joined by CLC visiting author Lise Gaboury-Diallo (2011). These authors will each speak, from their unique positions and experiences, on what it means to write “in Canada” and/or “in residence.” Their 15-20 minute talks will come together as segments of a unique 3-part lecture on writing and place. 

At a moment when “in Canada” is at once fraught and fiercely defended, we have asked the authors to consider one or more of the following questions: What responsibility do you assume, as a writer, to the place(s) you inhabit and/or write about – or perhaps for? What relationships do you draw between imaginative inhabiting and physical inhabiting? How do particular places call out to be represented? What connections and tensions exist between the local and the national? What preexisting literary textures in these places influence you as a writer? We hope you’ll join us for this dynamic literary cross-pollination.