Canucks

[GabbyP]

Hi,
I too am from Hamilton, Ontario (I lovingly refer to it as Hamilrock, some call it The Hammer, Steeltown, etc). I live in Europe now, and my Canadian-ness stands out all the time in ways I could never imagine, and it definitely comes out in my writing themes (although not consciously). I've noticed that lots of Canadian writers deal with issues such as loneliness, solitude, identity, cultural differences, tolerance, and generally lots and lots of deep thinking. I think it might have to do with the fact that Canada is a land of immigrants. Many many of these immigrants often left their home countries due to war or other kinds of strife, and therefore arrived with few belongings, few or no relatives, little knowledge of the culture and a lot of fear and uncertainty. I am a first generation Canadian, and when I was growing up my parents did not speak much English. Most of my friends at school were in the same boat. Or at least their grandparents did not speak much English and held onto 'the old country' way of dressing and eating and celebrating holidays. We grew up feeling distant from our own parents and their culture which we did not identify with. These are all issues that beg the questions: who am I? Who is anyone? What unites us? What divides us? Why can't we just have store-bought cookies and Capn' Crunch like everyone else? Mom, how can you not know what a goalie is???

I've also noticed an undercurrent of sadness and aloofness in lots of Canadian literature...not sure where that all comes from, but it is definitely there.

[GeeGee55]

I live in southwest Saskatchewan. It's interesting to me how the landscape we live with shapes our writing, whether it be the dry rolling hills (usually) where I am or the cement city where others live. I grew up in the northern part of the province and to this day I still long for the sight and smell of trees, for moisture in the air. I think some of that feeling finds its way into my writing. That sense of isolation and displacement. In the days when I was growing up it seemed Canadians were always trying to prove that they did have a unique identity, that they were different from Americans. Kind of like the younger brother always trying to best the older one.