Category Archives: The CanLitFare Blog

The CanLitFare Blog focuses on Canadian literature with food scenes in it. There is usually an ongoing theme involved. Our first project was “Capital Meals,” which highlighted food scenes related to Canada’s Capital cities and how these scenes speak about food policy, culture, family, and the importance of the space where food is shared.

Our latest project is “Turning Point Meals.” These posts examine scenes that depict a notable change in character development, or plot through food.

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Canadian Culinary Imaginations: A Symposium of Literary and Visual Fare

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Are you researching food in Canadian literature or the arts?  Is your creative practice informed by all things culinary?  If so, then you will want to submit a proposal to the Canadian Culinary Imaginations Symposium, which will bring together a diverse group of scholars and artists interested in exploring food-related culture from a Canadian perspective. The symposium will take place from February 19th – 20th, 2016 at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Richmond campus, located near the Landsdowne Skytrain Station (on the Canada Line) with convenient access to Vancouver’s International Airport.

The symposium will coincide with the launch of the public art exhibition Artful Fare: Conversations about Food, featuring the collaborative art projects of KPU Fine Arts and English students as they engage in creative-critical dialogues about food in Canadian poetry.

The complete call for papers  is listed below as well as contact information.  The deadline for presentation proposals is November 12, 2015.  We look forward to seeing some of you in February!

CALL FOR PAPERS:
Canadian Culinary Imaginations: A Symposium of Literary and Visual Fare

February 19 – 20, 2016
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Richmond Campus)
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Served with Geraniums

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A few years ago, I developed a small (literary) obsession with geraniums. These flowers, which are actually pelargoniums, are everywhere in Canadian literature. From the nineteenth century to the present, this domesticated exotic has proven itself extremely versatile in the imaginations of our writers.

During my initial research, I located a number of references to the geranium’s culinary uses, but at the time, I had to set these aside. Now, in the spirit of summertime fare, I can’t resist exploring my geranium inventory a little further.

Enthusiasts of author L.M. Montgomery will recall that Marilla Cuthbert has an apple-scented geranium growing in her kitchen window. During her first morning at Green Gables, Anne names this plant “Bonny.” It’s a sentimental gesture, a sign of this orphan’s desire for a loving home (Boyd 83-84). In their documentation of this scene, the editors of The Annotated Anne of Green Gables state that as a kitchen herb, the geranium’s leaves “were used sometimes in flavourings” (81). Although we never see Marilla cooking with geraniums, a quick internet search produces numerous recipes: geranium flavoured cakes, sauces, and teas.
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The Carrot Poet

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With summer in full bloom, it’s time to enjoy Canadian Literary Fare al fresco. Whether it’s a barbecue in the backyard, a picnic in the park, or a beverage on the terrace, it’s nice to have a good book close at hand.

When summer arrives, I think of gardening and the poet Lorna Crozier.


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Charlottetown’s Hungry Hearts

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Welcome to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and the birthplace of Confederation!

A tour of Charlottetown’s literary fare would not be complete without a mention of the island’s most famous author L.M. Montgomery and the iconic 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables.

Although this young orphan grows up in the country near the town of Avonlea, Anne makes memorable trips to the capital. In the chapter “An Epoch in Anne’s Life,” a young Anne is invited to travel with her friend Diana Barry to visit wealthy Aunt Josephine Barry. Miss Barry takes the girls to the Exhibition grounds where many Avonlea residents are in attendance, winning competitions for their prized agricultural products and home-made edible goods.

The next evening, the girls attend a concert at the Academy and afterwards go to a restaurant for ice cream at 11:00 p.m. Oh the decadence of city life—Anne isn’t sure at first how she will “ever return to common life again” (270). But upon reflection, she realizes what she truly values:

“It’s nice to be eating ice-cream at brilliant restaurants . . . once in awhile; but as a regular thing I’d rather be in the east gable at eleven, sound asleep, but kind of knowing even in my sleep that the stars were shining outside and that the wind was blowing in the firs across the brook” (270).

Painted in Waterlogue

Photo Credit: Shelley Boyd


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