Ready to learn about a landmark in Canadian theatre? Ann-Marie Macdonald, graduate of The National Theatre School (1980), celebrated actress and author with credits including Fall on Your Knees, The Way the Crow Flies, and Adult Onset. Ann-Marie shares the exciting history of The National Monument and its place as a cultural hub in the 1890’s. The Claim. published in 2017 : “I was amazed at what I discovered about this building. (…) It was founded literally as a monument to French-Canadian culture, yet it was home to the biggest Yiddish theatre outside of New York City, to chinese theatre. There were classes, there were women’s sufferage meetings (…) It was an extraordinarily progressive, diverse environment that brought all kinds of people together.” #125MonumentNational

The Refugium: Canadian authors pay homage to some of the largest trees in the world

Ten Canadian Authors play “Exquisite Corpse” for Canopy and for the ancient forests of Vancouver Island

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Will the world get fired up about CanLit?

The early success of Ann-Marie MacDonald, along with other Canadian writers, helped CanLit get recognition on a global stage. FRED LUM/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

There was a period of time, not too long ago, when Canadian literature was arguably the toast of the publishing industry, speaking to both Canada and the world. Awards are not necessarily the most accurate measure, but in the decade between 1992 and 2002, for instance, Canadian authors won the Man Booker Prize three times and were shortlisted an additional six times; won the Orange Prize for Fiction (now the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction) twice and were shortlisted three more times; and won the International Dublin Literary Award once and were shortlisted five more times, just to name three of the most prestigious international English-language writing prizes open to Canadian authors. Read more