Literary Review of Canada a Journal of Ideas NOW AVAILABLE from HOUSE of ANANSI PRESS RIDGERUNNER
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MARK NKALUBO NABETA Unrest MORGAN CAMPBELL Race and the Media DAN DUNSKY China’s Moment SHEREE FITCH Writing through Grief july | August 2020 Literary Review of Canada A journAl of ideAs NOW AVAILABLE FROM HOUSE OF ANANSI PRESS RIDGERUNNER THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED FOLLOW-UP TO THE OUTLANDER, BY GIL ADAMSON “RIDGERUNNER IS A BRILLIANT LITERARY ACHIEVEMENT . I LOVED EVERY PAGE OF IT.” — Michael Redhill, Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning author of Bellevue Square “TRULY MAGNIFICENT.” — Robert Olmstead, award-winning author of Coal Black Horse and Savage Country “RIDGERUNNER IS A WILD ADVENTURE SPUN IN EXALTED PROSE: THE BOOK I’VE BEEN WANTING TO READ FOR YEARS.” — Marina Endicott, award-winning author of Good to a Fault and The Difference ALSO AVAILABLE: THE OUTLANDER @HOUSEOFANANSI ANANSI PUBLISHES HOUSEOFANANSI.COM VERY GOOD BOOKS july | august 2020 ◆ volume 28 ◆ number 6 a journal of ideas first word the argument playtime Summer School China’s Moment Snuffed Torch Kyle Wyatt Reckoning with an empire state of mind Can the Olympic myth survive? 3 Dan Dunsky Laura Robinson 13 26 the public square False Notions pandemic the arts Yes, certain conditions continue to exist A Northern Light North and South Mark Nkalubo Nabeta Nunavut’s hope to avoid the outbreak Cuba’s Orwellian mystery 5 Sarah Rogers Amanda Perry 15 28 Under the Guise of Research Science and subjugation compelling people literature John Baglow 6 National Personality Trying Situations The legacy of Marcel Cadieux A new collection from David Bergen An Act of Protest Bruce K. Ward David Staines Desmond Cole says his piece 16 30 Morgan Campbell 8 bygone days An Urgent Realm Harsh Treatment Mallory Tater’s dark debut this and that Cecily Ross Perspectives on internment 31 Waiting on Tables J. L. Granatstein When no one’s being served 18 backstory Michael Humeniuk 9 Neighbourhood Watch Labyrinth Remembering a city of old Sheree Fitch Uncorked Barry Jordan Chong 32 Keeping spirits up in isolation 20 poetry David Wilson Risky Business 10 “Bluff” The journeys of human curiosity by Neil Surkan, p. 11 money matters Gregory P. Marchildon 22 “Commuter (Ontario)” Heart and Solo by Laurie D. Graham, p. 19 Beyond the Silicon Valley fallacy gadgets and gizmos “Is It Safe?” Rob Csernyik 12 Lawgivers of the Mind by Ronna Bloom, p. 21 The moral coding of artificial intelligence “Twenty-First-Century Sonnet” Brendan Howley by Daniel Goodwin, p. 29 24 our contributors John Baglow reads and writes in Ottawa. Brendan Howley recently co-founded Sarah Rogers is the 2019–20 Webster McConnell Morgan Campbell spent eighteen years with the Hume. works. Journalism Fellow at Massey College. Toronto Star. He’s now at work on his first book. Michael Humeniuk waits tables Cecily Ross wrote the novel The Lost Diaries of Barry Jordan Chong lives and writes in Toronto. when restaurants are open. Susanna Moodie. Rob Csernyik, a freelance journalist in Saint John, Gregory P. Marchildon is a professor of David Staines is the author of edits the website Great Canadian Longform. public policy at the University of Toronto. Robert Kroetsch: Essayist, Novelist, Poet. Dan Dunsky was executive producer of Mark Nkalubo Nabeta is a son, brother, Bruce K. Ward is a professor emeritus of and freelance brand strategist in Toronto. religious studies at Thorneloe University, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, from 2006 to 2015, and is the founder of Dunsky Insight. Amanda Perry teaches literature at Concordia in Sudbury, Ontario. University and Champlain College-Saint Lambert. David Wilson edited the Sheree Fitch just published Summer Feet, United Church Observer for eleven years. with the illustrator Carolyn Fisher. Laura Robinson is the author of Black Tights: ◆ J. L. Granatstein writes on Canadian Women, Sport and Sexuality and Cyclist political and military history. BikeList: The Book for Every Rider. Cover illustration, “Lost Kings,” by Bank Moody. with thanks to our supporters Made possible with the support of Ontario Creates ILLUMINATING VOICES WHEN WE NEED THEM THE MOST $27.95 • 9780889776944 $32.95 • 9780889776999 $27.95 • 9780889777200 “Whether in an imagined future or “It is thought-provoking, “Uncertain Harvest offers today’s stark reality, Until We Are Free philosophical, informative, an unflinching look at some stands as a necessary work that is and celebrates the resilience and of the biggest challenges bound to become central to dialogues strength of Indigenous spirituality we face today.” in the areas of social justice and our relationship to the sacred.” and global liberation. ” —Ann Hui, author of —Kathleen Absolon-King, author Chop Suey Nation —Quill & Quire of Kaandossiwin Understand more about our world—— then reimagine it——with the University UofRPress.ca of Regina Press’ bold perspectives on essential conversations. PARTICIPATION MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH CREATIVE SASKATCHEWAN’S MARKET AND EXPORT DEVELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAM. first word Summer School wo summers ago, i drove to Affairs created in his name, in 1951. Originally Utica, New York, for my favourite designed “as a tool for Indigenous assimila- road race. As I was picking up my tion,” the annual Tom Longboat Awards are now bib, I happened to meet one of administered by the non-profit Aboriginal Sport my heroes, the four-time Boston Circle and have been gradually transformed TMarathon champion Bill Rodgers. He noticed “into a symbol of cultural pride.” By better the Capricorn tattoo on my right arm and fan- understanding that often rocky transformation, cied a chat. I couldn’t believe my luck — Boston Canada can better support Indigenous ath- Billy is also a Capricorn. When Rodgers learned letes — something the Truth and Reconciliation I had come down from Toronto, the conversa- Commission identified as imperative with five of tion took a turn. All he wanted to talk about was its ninety- four calls to action. Tom Longboat. Throughout Reclaiming Tom Longboat, Forsyth Born in 1887, the Onondaga runner from Six dismantles a “widespread belief in the apolitical Nations of the Grand River, in Ontario, was a nature of sport” and shows how generations of dominant force in athletics. He was virtually athletes — from students in residential schools untouchable between 1906 and 1912, winning to men and women of today, on reserve and major races throughout Canada and the United off — have had to defy racially inflected barriers States and setting numerous national and world in order to compete on their own terms. It’s an records in the process. Before he served in the extension of the wider prejudices and bias that First World War, the Bulldog of Britannia repre- many continue to deny even exists. sented Canada at the 1908 Olympics, where he “It would be helpful to have some more collapsed in the marathon because of the heat. details,” Rex Murphy wrote in the National Post, He turned pro the following year — a decision on June 1, as he cavalierly dismissed recent state- that polite society frowned upon. ments by Justin Trudeau, Catherine McKenna, Longboat is a modern-day idol, and not just and many others who have acknowledged the to me and Bill Rodgers. One of the larger run- racism and discrimination that shape Canadian ning groups in Toronto is named after him, society today. “Where do they manifest them- Canada Post put him on a stamp in 2000, and selves?” he asked. two years ago even Google celebrated his legacy Reclaiming Tom Longboat is one of many texts with a Doodle. But despite how we remember that skeptics like Murphy might consult for him, despite his accomplishments on the track answers. Indeed, North America tends to cele- and on the roads, the press didn’t exactly lion- brate athletes of colour who adopt dominant ize Longboat at the time. “He hated to train,” assumptions about performance, competition, Maclean’s wrote long ago, “and he was a fool and comportment — on the field of play and with his money.” Many saw Longboat as a lazy, off. North America tends to use sports as “col- dim-witted natural talent gone to waste. “He lateral for teaching obedience,” as Forsyth puts made his own decisions about training, racing it. North America tends to link athletics to the and the conduct of his life,” Bruce Kidd wrote most emotionally charged symbols of nation- in 1983. “The criticism he received was a measure hood — the flag, the flyover, the anthem. All the of his independence and self-determination.” while, too much of North America still has a In her new book, Reclaiming Tom Longboat: problem when an athlete of colour makes his or Indigenous Self-Determination in Canadian Sport, her own decisions, speaks out, kneels down, or Janice Forsyth describes the runner as a “tragic runs through the wrong neighbourhood. hero,” whose reputation largely hinged “on I won’t be driving down to Utica this summer, the desires and prejudices of writers who fused and none of us will be competing in road races together ideas about nation, race, masculin- for a while. But we can all spend time acknow- ity, and class to create a composite picture that ledging and talking about uncomfortable truths barely resembled the man.” Her title notwith- made even more urgent by the injustices that are standing, Forsyth focuses not on Longboat but once again rocking communities throughout the on the athletic prize the Department of Indian United States and Canada. Kyle Wyatt, Editor-in-Chief July | August 2020 3 Literary Review of Canada Massey College 4 Devonshire Place Toronto, ON m5s 2e1 [email protected] Editor-in-ChiEf Kyle Wyatt [email protected] art dirECtor Brian Morgan assistant Editor Rose Hendrie PoEtry Editor Moira MacDougall CoPy Editor Barbara Czarnecki Editorial intErn Douglas Robertson Contributing Editors Murray Campbell, Bronwyn Drainie, Basil Guinane, Beth Haddon, Mark Lovewell, Cecily Ross, Alexander Sallas ProofrEadErs Cristina Austin, Michael Strizic PublishEr Eithne McCredie adVErtising [email protected] board of dirECtors John Macfarlane (Chair), Scott Griffin, Neena Gupta, Kelly Jenkins, Joseph Kertes, Amela Marin, Don McCutchan, David Staines, Jaime Watt CorPoratE sECrEtary Vali Bennett foundEd in 1991 by P.