When writers place food in front of their characters – who after all do not need sustenance – they are asking readers to be alert to the meaning and implication of food choices. As readers begin to listen closely to these cues, they become attuned to increasingly layered stories about why it matters what foods are selected, prepared, served, or shared, and with whom, where, and when.

In Canadian Literary Fare Nathalie Cooke and Shelley Boyd explore food voices in a wide range of Canadian fiction, drama, and poetry, drawing from their formational blog series with Alexia Moyer. Thirteen short vignettes delve into metaphorical taste sensations, telling of how single ingredients such as garlic or ginger, or food items such as butter tarts or bannock, can pack a hefty symbolic punch in literary contexts. A chapter on Canada’s public markets finds literary food voices sounding a largely positive note, just as Canadian journalists trumpet Canada’s bountiful and diverse foodways. But in chapters on literary representations of bison and Kraft Dinner, Cooke and Boyd bear witness to narratives of hunger, food scarcity, and social inequality with poignancy and insistence.

Canadian Literary Fare pays heed to food voices in the works of Tomson Highway, Rabindranath Maharaj, Alice Munro, M. NourbeSe Philip, Eden Robinson, Fred Wah, and more, inviting readers to listen for stories of foodways in the literatures of Canada and beyond.

Nathalie Cooke is associate dean of the McGill Library, professor of English at McGill University, and the editor of What’s to Eat?: Entrées in Canadian Food History.

Nathalie Cooke's profile page

Shelley Boyd is a Canadian literature specialist in the Department of English at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and author of Garden Plots: Canadian Women Writers and Their Literary Gardens.

Shelley Boyd's profile page

Alexia Moyer's profile page

• Winner, Gabrielle Roy Prize for Canadian literary criticism

“A charming collection about Canadian foodstuffs. The authors invite the reader in with entertaining information and stories, while presenting research that is riveting in detail.” Lynette Hunter, University of California, Davis

"Alice Munro's recipe for maple mousse is ‘cloying’. Douglas Coupland uses Kraft Dinner as a remedy for writer's block. Margaret Atwood's blog advises drinking dandelion tea if coffee beans run out. Morsels such as these nourish this carefully prepared scholarly study of food in Canadian literature." Times Literary Supplement

“This is a unique work, and in looking at their subject through the lens of food the authors provide genuine insight into Canadian literature. In addition, they highlight a variety of literary forms and writers with various backgrounds.” Choice

"Canadian Literary Fare explores "food voices." Food speaks. It tells of memories, relationships, cultural histories and personal life histories differing dramatically from Canadian cookbooks, food texts or visitor information pamphlets, which speak of celebration, bounty and inclusion. In contrast, food voices speak of food scarcity, social inequality, and exclusion. Food in literature is always symbolic, … .” Culinary Historians of Canada newsletter