Kim Thuy's Ru

Just doing some housework this morning and put on NPR's All Things Considered and I hear Kim Thuy's voice.

So glad to hear her being interviewed on NPR on the occasion of her book's release in the US.

Ru is an excellent book, of course, one of the best reads this year (though I read it way back last winter). It tells the tale of her family's leaving Vietnam and coming to Canada on a cold winter's morning. And Kim is such a fascinating woman: kind and bubbly and very entertaining.

What I appreciate about the book's success in our country is how it's Canadian literature at its finest, no one questions this, no one calls it Vietnamese though it's about a Vietnamese family. In Canada, that's less of a surprise, but the fact that it's been so widely embraced in Quebec is an excellent testament to how far Quebeckers have come in embracing the stories of those who come from other places. Yes, it's written in French so that helps but I am still happy to see this (and other) story from a "new" Quebecker.

I really hope her book is a booming success State side, matching its success in Quebec and Canada.

CanLit: Off to the Governor General Awards!

Banquet in a couple hours' time to announce the winners of the Governor General's awards. I have to say that I really like the GG's. The books they pick are a broader representation of what Canadian writers are doing than other prize committees; they recognize genres that don't get as much attention in Canada or internationally (drama, illustration) and it's one of the rare times when French and English titles are put down alongside one another given there is a great deal of segregation in our language communities nationally (and even locally to some extent, a Festival like Blue Metropolis is one of the only places in the world where English and French are allowed to be in dialogue with one another!).

Some of my faves are (these are not necessarily my pics to win since I haven't read all the long-listed books. Plus I feel like I should remain relatively unbiased!):

ENGLISH (but only the categories I feel qualified to assess!):
Vincent Lam: The Headmaster's Wager (fiction)
David McGimpsey: Li'l Bastard (poetry)
James Pollock: Sailing to Babylon (poetry)
Nahlah Ayed: A Thousand Farewells (non-fiction)
Sheila Fischman (Kim Thuy): Ru (translation)

FRANÇAIS 
Catherine Mavrikakis: Les derniers jours de Smokey Nelson (Romans et nouvelles)
France Daigle: Pour sûr (Romans et nouvelles)
Hélène Dorion: Coeurs, comme livres d'amour (poesie)
Pascal Riendeau: Méditation et vision de l'essai: Roland Barthes, Milan Kundera et Jacques Brault (Essais)
Lori Saint-Martin et Paul Gagné (Miriam Toews): Irma Voth (Traduction)
Lori Saint-Martin et Paul Gagné (Ann Charney): La petite cousin de Freud (Traduction)

I love David McGimpsey's book. And Nahlah Ayed's. And Catherine Mavrikakis is one of the most innovative writers working today.

Good luck to everyone! :)