New Book Explores Meaning and Shape of Prairie Literature

West of Eden to Be Launched March 23 at McNally-Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park

If East of Eden is the place God sent Cain after he killed his brother Abel, where is West of Eden?

For Sue Sorensen, Assistant Professor of English at CMU, it might be the Canadian prairies.

“It’s not paradise, but it’s not so distant from the garden,” she writes in her introduction to West of Eden: Essays on Canadian Prairie Literature, a new book that explores the meaning and shape of writing about the prairies.

“To be West of Eden is certainly not ideal: it is not the garden itself. Yet surely this western spot is not so distant from the glory of the garden.”

The question of just how close to or far from paradise the prairies are is the imaginative concept behind the book, which will be launched March 23, 8 PM at Winnipeg’s McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park.


In the book, which is edited by Sorensen and published by CMU Press, 17 scholars reflect on well-known prairie writers such as Rudy Wiebe, Frederick Philip Grove and Margaret Laurence, as well as Winnipeg-born singer-songwriter Neil Young. There’s also an analysis of National Film Board depictions of the prairies, and a reflection on the gopher as a prairie icon.

“This collection aims to reopen or revitalize some of the debates about the identity of prairie people and what our literature looks like,” says Sorensen, noting that in recent years critics have turned away from defining and evaluating prairie literature and moved toward more trendy issues in cultural and literary studies.

“I wanted the scholars within the collection to revisit some of the basic questions,” she says, such as “How important is realism in prairie literature?” and “How influential is the landscape?”

Those “basic questions” are a jumping off point for many of West of Eden's noteworthy contributors. Pamela Banting of the University of Calgary works from the ground up in her essay, “Deconstructing the Politics of Location.” Debra Dudek from the University of Wollongong in Australia offers pedagogical insights gleaned from teaching Robert Kroetsch's long poem, Seed Catalogue. And Dennis Cooley, well-known poet and professor at the University of Manitoba, offers a playful overview of the key critical issues facing prairie literature in the last few decades in his essay, titled “The Critical Reception of Prairie Literature.”

According to literary icon and Manitoba author Robert Kroetsch, “West of Eden takes us to a new stage in prairie writing,” with Sorensen leading “us in a multi-voiced celebration.”

“What makes West of Eden compelling, relevant, even necessary reading is its insistence that the culture of the Canadian prairies is integral to our understanding of living in this place,” adds Christian Riegel from Campion College at the University of Regina.

“I wanted to create a book that is engaging and accessible to those who have recently stepped into the field of Prairie Literature,” says Sorensen, adding that “I want West of Eden to be useful not only to scholars, but also to university and high school students, and to the general reading public.”

West of Eden is available from the CMU bookstore, cmubookstore@cmu.ca or from local bookstores. The cost is $28.95.

About CMU Press: CMU Press is an academic publisher of scholarly, reference, and general interest books at Canadian Mennonite University. Books from CMU Press address and inform interests and issues vital to the university, its constituency, and society. Areas of specialization include Mennonite studies, and works that are church-oriented or theologically engaged.

For more information, contact: Jonathan Dyck, CMU Press Project Manager, cmupress@cmu.ca (204) 487-3300 ext. 659.

Posted February 2nd, 2009