The literary scene in Sudbury is extensive and vibrant. With two publishing houses, numerous festivals showcasing poetry and prose and dozens of prize-winning authors, the region has no shortage of reading opportunities.
Publishers are crucial to getting authors’ stories to their audiences. Latitude 46 emerged nine years ago when Scrivener Press closed after two decades of publishing Northern Ontario author’s works.
Lawrence Steven was the publisher/editor, but moved south. His efforts left an impressive legacy of prize-winning books. He risked publishing small anthologies of local poetry, such as Our Lakes Shall Set Us Free, edited by Roger Nash.
He helped make local history known with accounts depicting 100 years of curling in A Social Draw by Paul Mandizuk. He believed our region should be known and celebrated, hence supported Come on Over: Northeastern Ontario A to Z, which he enlivened with cartoons and humorous anecdotes.
The second edition of that book, which sold 2,200 copies and won a best non-fiction prize, is soon being released by Latitude 46.
Latitude 46 takes its name from Sudbury’s location on the 46th parallel. It has showcased local authors and the region, with 43 books published and six coming in 2024.
Authors include locals Roger Nash, Thomas Leduc (Slagflower, 2019) and Kim Fahner, and others from across Northern Ontario such as Rod Carley (Grim Reaping), Marion Agnew (Making up the Gods), Hap Wilson (River of Fire) and Jennifer Farquhar (Watermark).
For Franco-Ontarian publications, Prise de Parole is respected across Canada. Over five decades, it has supported northern authors, including Robert Dickson (Governor General Award for literature) and Gaetan Gervais (Order of Canada).
Wordstock Sudbury is Northern Ontario's annual multi-day literary festival celebrating readers, writers and word-lovers. It offers readings, talks and exchanges every November.
Nearly all Sudbury authors from historians to poets, novelists to non-fiction writers have appeared.
A newer literary festival nearby featuring many Sudbury area authors is the Jabbawong Storytelling Festival, held annually in July at Kagawong on Manitoulin Island. This year, Kim Fahner, Waubgeshig Rice and Emily de Angelis are participating.
Editors are crucial to the publishing process. They see what authors, who are close to their creations, overlook. They point to what does not work or lacks style. Almost all authors mentioned share their expertise by helping others with the craft of writing good prose or poetry structured to captivate readers. Some do it gratis, but most require a fee for workshops or editorial assistance.
One place where editorial help is available is the Sudbury Writer’s Guild. A nominal membership fee lets you participate in writing workshops and engage with other authors during reading sessions to test audience reception of draft manuscripts. Occasionally, they publish anthologies on a theme, such as Sudbury Superstack: A Changing Skyline (May 2024).
Each February, Wordstock Sudbury, CBC radio and the Greater Sudbury Public Library present the local version of a national literary contest publicizing and defending five new authors.
Not just for Francophones, Le Salon du livre du Grand Sudbury bi-annually presents dozens of authors and hundreds of books. This event at Place des Artes combines literary celebration with diverse artistic performances.
Choosing a few authors to highlight the Sudbury literary scene is difficult, because we have so many. Likely only those with know-how or support to publicize get their work known, while some jewels remain hidden.
Rosanna Battigelli is among the most prolific and successful of Sudbury authors, with representation in 17 anthologies. Her historical novel La Brigantessa (Inanna Publications, 2018) received numerous awards and positive reviews and has been translated.
From an historian’s perspective, it is an outstanding reconstruction and engaging read about the tribulations of a young woman who avenged her rape and out of necessity joined an outlawed gang.
Battigelli offers a tough yet charming tale reimaging post-unification Italy in which the heroine overcomes surprising challenges. Battigelli probably attains her widest readership through romance novels. Cast in the Harlequin style, they are passionate and erotic with handsome heroes, beautiful belles, and perhaps Hollywood inspired plots.
Liisa Kovala writes historical novels, biography and fiction. Using her father’s experiences in a concentration camp in northern Poland, Surviving Stutthof teaches about the camp and moral courage. Since that biographical appreciation of her father’s harrowing experiences, she has continued to write on themes tied to her family’s background — Finland and warfare. In her coaching role, she attempts to publicize models of good writing, including highlighting other authors via workshops.
An autobiography all Sudburians should sample is Cathy Mulroy’s My View from the Blackened Rocks (2019). Among the first of the few women Inco hired in the 1970s, she provides a lengthy account of her experiences, including the difficult working conditions and coworker interactions.
Mulroy illustrates the challenges of being the sole female in a male work environment where she was initially unwelcome and mistreated. She persisted and more than survived.
Among my favourite authors is Ric deMuelles. He presents the underside of our tough world including crimes of theft, murder and skullduggery, for example in Quinn. His recent work, Pity the Minator, provides an imaginative weaving of ancient legends and modern knowledge.
He does not cater to those demanding political correctness or ascribing to the trend of the month.
“I think the novel's role is to make the reader ponder one's personal humanity and to plumb its depths,” deMeulles said. “Some of my themes are how we hide from ourselves, how we can be blinded to the limitations imposed on us by the unseen past, how we can let anger and victimhood push away those people we most need. … None of these are very cool in this socially progressive liberal environment, one that sees the novel as a vehicle to prescribe the correct way of thinking and acting.”
For some, Sudbury provides the background. Matthew Heiti uses the local landscape for his crime novel, The City Still Breathing. Prolific writer with six books, Scott Overton goes far afield with his social justice sci-fi works relevant to a place that lost its riches to outsiders.
Very different in his approach to the future is Waubgeshig Rice in a sequel to his very successful Moon of the Crusted Snow. He employs Indigenous teachings to have his characters survive our collapsed technological world in Moon of the Turning Leaves.
Others, such as the former Sudbury resident Danielle Daniel, who penned a memoir detailing the trials but ultimate survival of a military marriage, continues to create beautiful children’s books. Her prize-winning and bestselling Sometimes I feel like a... (fox, a river…) series is inspired by our landscape.
Those whom I have not mentioned need not be offended. They are among dozens from which I have chosen a few, none necessarily representative of Sudbury’s literary culture but demonstrating its topical breadth and quality.
Poetry will be given short notice, but I can suggest that those chosen as the city’s poets laureate are a good guide since they are selected by a rigorous review. Alex Tétreault was announced as the seventh in April 2024. He follows previous authors such as Roger Nash, Daniel Aubin, Kim Fahner, Thomas Leduc, Chloé LaDuchesse, Vera Constantineau and Kyla Heyming.
Samples of their and others’ work can be found in the Sudbury literary journal Sulphur. Nash has headed the League of Canadian Poets. Chloé LaDuchesse’s collection Exosquelette was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for French-language poetry in 2021.
Kim Fahner, who is the first vice-chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada, has been invited to read from Yukon to Newfoundland, especially from her collection Emptying the Ocean.
In her estimate, "Sudbury's literary scene is a rich one. … I'd love to see further strengthening of literary connections and collaborations with writers in other northern towns and cities so that our region strengthens itself as a whole, with a more connected network of writers from across the Northeast."
Most of these authors succeed by promoting their work via social media and being productive. Many have won prizes, awards and receive regular invites to read their works or contribute to anthologies. If you haven’t read their creations, I challenge you to broaden your horizons and explore the imaginative efforts of Sudbury’s talented local authors. Most are available at Chapters, Bay Used Books or the publishers.
Dr. Dieter K. Buse is professor emeritus, History, Laurentian University. He is writing a series of columns on local culture and history on behalf of the Sudbury Arts Council.
