Overview

"" Speaking in the Past Tense participates in an expanding critical dialogue on the writing of historical fiction, providing a series of reflections on the process from the perspective of those souls intrepid enough to step onto what is, practically by definition, contested territory."" â Herb Wyile, from the Introduction The extermination of the Beothuk ... the exploration of the Arctic ... the experiences of soldiers in the trenches during World War I ... the foibles of Canada's longest-serving prime minister ... the Ojibway sniper who is credited with 378 wartime killsâthese are just some of the people and events discussed in these candid and wide-ranging interviews with eleven authors whose novels are based on events in Canadian history. These sometimes startling conversations take the reader behind the scenes of the novels and into the minds of their authors. Through them we explore the writers' motives for writing, the challenges they faced in gathering information and presenting it in fictional form, the sometimes hostile reaction they faced after publication, and, perhaps most interestingly, the stories that didn't make it into their novels. Speaking in the Past Tense provides fascinating insights into the construction of national historical narratives and myths, both those familiar to us and those that are still being written.

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9780889205116

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<i>Speaking in the Past Tense</i> allows fans of such authors as Heather Robertson, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Wayne Johnston, and Jane Urquhart to glimpse the research processes behind their successful novels ... but it also operates on a deeper level, encouraging readers to interrogate history in all its shapes and proclamations.... Wyile's books stimulates such creative musings in the reader in part because it shows how expansive the genre of historical fiction is. Although staying within the realm of English Canadian literature, his participants represent a cross-section of social and historical interests. And just as his interview subjects are not limited in their craft by convention, nor are the interviews restricted by Wyile's agenda. Reading through <i>Speaking in the Past Tense</i>, one has the sense of being privy to real dialogues as opposed to QandA sessions. This thoughtful book helps us see that ... these authors are making it [history] live again. --Andrea Belcham Prairie Fire

Author Information

Herb Wyile is a professor of English at Acadia University. He is the author of Speculative Fictions: Contemporary Canadian Novelists and the Writing of History (2002) and Speaking in the Past Tense: Canadian Novelists on Writing Historical Fiction (WLU Press, 2007). He co-edited, with Jeanette Lynes, Surfâs Up! The Rising Tide of Atlantic-Canadian Literature (2008) and created the website Waterfront Views: Contemporary Writing of Atlantic Canada .

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