Getting Lit with Linda - The Canadian Literature Podcast
73 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago -Using her expertise as a seasoned literature professor, Linda M. Morra develops provocative, timely insights about books from Canada and elsewhere to show why stories are relevant for all of us. Hosted and written by Linda Morra, produced by Linda Morra and Marco Timpano.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Homepage Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
The Body / Book in the Doghouse
October 28, 2021 22:59 - 15 minutes - 13.7 MBHappy Hallowe-en! This episode tackles a book that deals with ghosts, gruesome accidents, and murder -- Kevin Lambert's You Will Love What You Have Killed, translated by Donald Winkler (published by Biblioasis 2020) from the French (Tu Aimeras Ce Que Tu As Tué, 5.40). Linda begins this episode with a personal anecdote about a dead body that was found in a dog house (on the property of her parents' neighbours): she uses this narrative to explore the idea of the "repressed," that is, those em...
"A Certain Kind of Activism": Witnessing and Jordan Abel's "Nishga"
October 14, 2021 22:19 - 44 minutes - 39 MBIn this episode, multiple award-winning Nisga'a author Jordan Abel and host Linda Morra discuss his most recent book, Nishga (published by McClelland & Stewart in 2020), the intergenerational legacies of trauma for residential school survivors, and the importance of not only listening to, but also "witnessing" their stories. He speaks about his relationship with his father's art and the kinds of "activism" that writing might perform. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...
Paper Postcards - Eden Robinson's "Traplines"
October 01, 2021 01:51 - 18 minutes - 15.8 MBLinda focuses on Indigenous writers in this podcast in view of Orange Shirt Day (every child matters!) and the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. She recommends several writers (some of them featured on 49th shelf), including Cherie Dimaline and Joshua Whitehead. Postcards may offer glossy images of success or experiences that aren't real - instead, sometimes those images may obscure the turbulent underside of our lives. Beginning with her experience with depression (trigg...
Wayson Choy's The Jade Peony - Connecting Across Generations & Genders
September 17, 2021 02:18 - 27 minutes - 22.7 MBRemember Shirley Temple, that Hollywood cinema's icon of idealized (white) girlhood? Linda looks up a short clip, "On the Good Ship Lollipop," and feels uncomfortable (trigger warning here) and explains why she and some of her students shared that experience. She considers the importance of contextualizing or historicizing our responses to cultural artefacts -- but, even so, there is good reason to feel uncomfortable about Temple's childhood performances. That's not necessarily the case for ...
When the Body Complains - Jane Rule's Taking My Life and Sara Ahmed's Complaint!
September 06, 2021 05:06 - 31 minutes - 66.2 MBIn this episode, addressing Jane Rule's Taking My Life (Talon Books), Linda discusses why bodies "complain" and what it means when they do. In the Takeaway section, she reviews Sara Ahmed's new book, Complaint (Duke University Press). In Complaint!, Ahmed examines institutional harassment and bullying, and how to read complaints that are lodged against such institutions. In the entirety of the episode, Linda is discussing how we respond to different forms of "grooming" (Ahmed) or bodily coer...
When the Body Complains - Jane Rule's Taking My Life and Sara Ahmed's Complaint
September 06, 2021 05:06 - 31 minutes - 28.8 MBIn this episode, addressing Jane Rule's Taking My Life (Talon Books), Linda discusses why bodies "complain" and what it means when they do. In the Takeaway section, she reviews Sara Ahmed's new book, Complaint (Duke University Press). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
"What Blossoms Long For" - Chantel Lavoie
August 19, 2021 15:40 - 38 minutes - 28.6 MBIn this episode, and as part of the Sealey challenge, Linda interviews poet and scholar, Chantel Lavoie, about her love for the poetry of Margaret Atwood - in particular, the collections Morning in the Burned House (Penguin Random House), The Door (Penguin Random House), and Dearly (HarperCollins). Lavoie is herself a poet, as Linda notes at the outset of the episode: she published Where The Terror Lies with Quattro Books in 2012 and This is About Angels, Women, and Men with Manfield Press ...
Thomas King's One Good Story, That One: Relationships & Stories
August 05, 2021 22:51 - 22 minutes - 20 MBWe develop relationships with people and communities as we share stories with them--in fact, that is a sign of our role or place within the community--but we don't get to demand to hear them, especially when we are not a part of that community. In this episode, Linda examines Thomas King's collection, One Good Story, That One (published by HarperCollins), and particularly the story of the same title, with this idea in mind. She considers his literary technique in relation to Van Gogh's Starry...
Our Daily Heroes: Nino Ricci's Lives of the Saints
July 24, 2021 20:49 - 16 minutes - 15.4 MBIn reflecting about her father and her visit with him to his small Italian village some years ago, Linda draws comparisons with Nino Ricci's Lives of the Saints (Penguin/Random House), in which the young male protagonist, Vittorio, must work out how he feels about his mother who flies in the face of the strict moral codes of the Italian town. With reference to other Italian-Canadian writers -- Terri Favro, Connie Guzzo-McParland, Pier Giorgio Di Cicco -- and also the audio book read by Marco ...
Literature Heals and Connects Us: Heather O'Neill's "Messages in Bottles"
July 08, 2021 14:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBIn this episode, Heather O'Neill's short story, "Messages in Bottles" (from Daydreams of Angels, published by HarperCollins in 2014) becomes the focal point of a discussion about why distance does not necessarily impede intimacy--sometimes, in fact, it helps us to be or feel more closely connected--and in that process, literature may play an important part. In her takeaway, Linda chats about her newest "discovery," Souvankham Thammavongsa's Found (Pedlar Press 2007). Check out this video with...
Bonus Episode: Interview with Lori Schubert, Executive Director of the Quebec Writers' Federation
June 25, 2021 02:02 - 25 minutes - 22.2 MBLinda sits in the backyard of Lori Schubert, the Executive Director of the Quebec Writers' Federation, to chat with her about the organization's history, her role in it, and the programs it offers to its members across the province of Quebec, including its database of Quebec writers and its awards. And the two just enjoy a beautiful day outside, at the end of a long period of pandemic restrictions.... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How Remembering Defines You - Lorena Gale's Je Me Souviens
June 25, 2021 01:42 - 19 minutes - 17.6 MBIn this episode, Linda remembers how she met actor and writer Lorena Gale in Vancouver, British Columbia - and how acts of remembering define who you are, as Gale's play, Je Me Souviens (Talon Press), renders clear; she connects the history and significance of license plates in Quebec to Gale's journey of self-discovery to show how Gale navigates carefully the challenges of identity in the province -- both when Gale lived there and then in retrospect. In the take-away section, Linda considers...
Bonus Episode: Interview with Marco Timpano, Author of 25 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Podcast
June 10, 2021 22:28 - 24 minutes - 20.7 MBIn this episode, Linda chats with her co-producer (yes, that's right - her co-producer) and long-standing friend, Marco Timpano, about his career as a podcaster, and his recent publication, 25 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started My Podcast. He reads from the book and, drawing upon his own experiences as a podcaster, explains some of the things he really wished he did know. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Languages & Sounds That Are Home: Kaie Kellough's Magnetic Equator
June 10, 2021 16:00 - 19 minutes - 16.9 MBIn this episode, Linda begins with the sound of her father's old espresso machine, to explain how she sees -- or hears -- sound working in Magnetic Equator (published by McClelland & Stewart) by international poet, novelist, and sound performer Kaie Kellough. You can hear a sample of his sound poetry here. This episode includes a small excerpt read by Kellough himself (with permission by Kellough). In the "take-away" section, Linda talks about a biography she recently read by Sherrill Grace...
Bonus Episode: Interview with Michael Nest, author of Cold Case North
May 27, 2021 21:44 - 50 minutes - 47.8 MBLinda chats with author, Michael Nest, about Cold Case North, a finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada for its 2021 Best True Crime Award. We chat about the challenges involved in researching the disappearance of Jim Brady (Metis) and Absolom Halkett (Cree), the fundamental nature of collaboration in this kind of endeavour, and what it might look like this in this kind of moment and context. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bonus Episode: Interview with Dr. Deanna Reder (Cree Métis), collaborator behind Cold Case North
May 27, 2021 19:30 - 28 minutes - 25.3 MBBonus Episode: Linda chats with Dr. Deanna Reder about the history related to James Brady (Métis) and Abby Halkett, the community that experienced this traumatic loss, and the making of this book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Cold Case North is Smoking Hot
May 27, 2021 18:40 - 17 minutes - 15 MBLinda discusses the narrative of Cold Case North (published by the University of Regina Press) -- an investigation that was poorly conducted and re-opened by ... a Cree-Métis scholar, Dr. Deanna Reder, Eric Bell, and Michael Nest. Shortlisted by the Crime Writers of Canada for the 2021 Best True Crime Award, Cold Case North is a powerful, moving account of how and why the Métis leader James Brady and Cree Band Councillor Absolom Halkett disappeared and their case remains unresolved. Dr. Deann...
Apocalypse Now (and Then) - Saleema Nawaz's Songs for the End of the World
May 27, 2021 18:30 - 20 minutes - 17.7 MBLinda considers the two central meanings of apocalypse in view of recent global events, environmental crises, and political upheavals. She uses these two meanings to approach Saleema Nawaz's Songs for the End of the World (published by McClelland & Stewart). In the "Takeaway" section of the podcast, she continues to pursue the idea of revelation in relation to Klara DuPlessis's Hell Light Flesh (published by Palimpsest Press). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hiatus / Teaser Episode
May 25, 2021 03:52 - 1 minute - 1.4 MBWe are so grateful for the really enthusiastic response we have had to the podcast! We're coming right back - but, in response to some of our listeners's requests, we have provided you with a list of some of the writers (and a little time to read their books!) that Linda will be discussing in future episodes. Have some other suggestions for us? Drop us a line at [email protected] or follow us on Twitter (@LLitWith) and Instagram! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...
Episode 3: My Body is a Record - Madeleine Thien's Do Not Say We Have Nothing
May 23, 2021 15:02 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBOur bodies hold memory: they contain narratives that exceed the present moment and extend back generations. This episode calls upon writer and host Linda's personal experience to understand and explore Madeleine Thien's remarkable novel, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, published by Knopf (a division of Penguin Random House). The Take-Away for this episode involves two collections by the Italian-Canadian poet, Gianna Patriarca -- Italian Women and Other Tragedies and Daughters for Sale, both publ...
Episode 2: This is the Present Me - Rawi Hage's DeNiro's Game
August 20, 2020 15:00 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBIn this episode, Linda begins by focusing on one of her personal favourites: DeNiro's Game by the award-winning, Quebec-based author, Rawi Have (with reference to two of his other novels). The "Take-away" section briefly recommends Megan Gail Coles's Small Game Hunting at the Local Coward's Gun Club published by the House of Anansi, while promising to look at other East-Coast writers in Canada in the future, including Alistair MacLeod, Michael Crummey, Lisa Moore, Donna Morrissey, and Michae...
Episode 1: Not All About Atwood
August 19, 2020 15:00 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MBWhat does it mean to "Get Lit with Linda"? This episode introduces listeners to Linda and what she will be chatting about in future episodes--Canadian and other literary forms. Sometimes, she will also chat with literary writers and icons, to develop a broad sense of what "getting literature" really means. Episode Credits:Linda Morra: Host & Writer, Associate ProducerMarco Timpano: Associate ProducerRaphael Krux: Music Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Introduction to Getting Lit with Linda
July 09, 2020 12:00 - 45 seconds - 1.08 MBUsing her expertise as a seasoned literature professor, Linda M. Morra develops provocative, timely insights about books from Canada and elsewhere to show why stories are relevant for all of us. Hosted and written by Linda Morra, produced by Linda Morra and Marco Timpano. Our podcast launches on August 19, 2020! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.