Article

Canadian Literature (periodical)

Published Online May 28, 2012

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Canadian Literature (founded 1959) was the first quarterly concerned entirely with the discussion of Canadian writing. Published by UBC, it was edited by George Woodcock 1959-77.

Canadian Literature

It is assisted financially by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the federal government through the Canadian Magazine Fund. A variety of critical approaches have been encouraged; poets and novelists have been invited to write about their own arts and discuss the works of their fellows. Canadian poetry has long been in the offering of reviews and original writing and in 2008 the journal launched a continuing online archive of poems published in Canadian Literature called CanLit Poets.

Many important Canadian critics have appeared in Canadian Literature, as have creative writers as varied as Hugh Maclennan, Margaret Atwood, Irving Layton, Timothy Findley, Dorothy Livesay, F.R. Scott, A.J.M. Smith, P.K. Page and Audrey Thomas.

In 2009, the periodical celebrated its 50th anniversary with a festival and conference focused on the future of Canadian literature. With a circulation of about 1000 (2012), and reader visits of 10 000 to 20 000 per month on the CanLit Poets website, Canadian Literature remains an influential voice in the literary arts in Canada.