The Retreat (Bergen Novel)
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The Retreat (Bergen Novel)
''The Retreat'' is a 2008 English-language novel by Canadian author David Bergen. It was published by McClelland & Stewart and won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award in 2009. The novel depicts the relations between and among a white woman and aboriginal men. Plot The story takes place in 1970s when the Ojibwe occupied the Anicinabe Park in Kenora at a community called "The Retreat" in a remote island. The community is run by Doctor Amos, who treats his psychiatric patients in an unconventional way in a sanctuary like place he has created. Raymond Saymour, who is eighteen years old, and his younger brother Nelson belong to the native Ojibwe community. They have met each other after a long time as Nelson had been adopted by a white family. The Byrd family visits The Retreat for rehabilitation of Mrs. Byrd. They have four children, eldest daughter Lizzy of seventeen years old takes care of the youngest two brothers Fish and William. The fourteen-year-old son Everett is i ...
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David Bergen
David Bergen (born January 14, 1957) is a Canadian novelist. He has published nine novels and two collections of short stories since 1993 and is currently based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His 2005 novel ''The Time in Between'' won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and he was a finalist again in 2010 (for ''The Matter With Morris)'' and 2020 (for ''Here the Dark)'', making the long list in 2008 (for ''The Retreat).'' Life and career Bergen was born on January 14, 1957, in Port Edward, a small fishing village in British Columbia, Canada, and later grew up in the small town of Niverville, Manitoba. He went to Bible college in British Columbia and Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he studied creative communication. He taught English and Creative Writing at Winnipeg's Kelvin High School until 2002. Raised Mennonite, Bergen has noted that the tendency of the church to stifle questions and criticism affected his decision to write fiction. "Writing is a way of figuring things ...
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Margaret Laurence Award
Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages. It became less popular between the 16th century and 18th century, but became more common again after this period, becoming the second-most popular female name in the United States in 1903. Since this time, it has become less common, but was still the ninth-most common name for women of all ages in the United States as of the 1990 census. Margaret has many diminutive forms in many different languages, including Maggie, Madge, Daisy, Margarete, Marge, Margo, Margie, Marjorie, Meg, Megan, Rita, Greta, Gretchen, and Peggy. Name variants Full name * (Irish) * (Irish) * (Dutch), (German), (Swedish) * (English) Diminutives * (English) * (English) First half * (French) * (Welsh) Second half * (English), (Ger ...
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Colm Toibin
Colm is a male given name of Irish origin. Colm can be pronounced "Collum" or "Kullum". It is not an Irish version of Colin, but like Callum and Malcolm derives from a Gaelic variation on ''columba'', the Latin word for 'dove'. People *Colm Brogan (1902–1977), Scottish writer *Colm Byrne (born 1971), Irish playwright *Colm Collins, Gaelic football manager * Colm Condon (1921–2008), Irish lawyer *Colm Connolly (born 1942), Irish broadcaster and author *Colm Cooper (born 1983), Irish Gaelic football player *Colm Coyle (born 1963), Irish Gaelic football player and manager *Colm Feore (born 1958), American-born Canadian actor *Colm Hilliard (1936–2002), Irish politician *Colm Imbert (born 1957), Trinidad and Tobago politician *Colm Magner (born 1961), Canadian actor * Colm Mangan (born 1942), Irish general *Colm Meaney (born 1953), Irish actor *Colm Mulcahy (born 1958), Irish mathematician, academic, columnist and author *Colm Ó Cíosóig (born 1964), Irish drummer *Colm O'Go ...
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Bob Rae
Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party from 1982 to 1996, and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2011 to 2013. Between 1978 and 2013, he was elected 11 times to federal (Broadview, Broadview-Greenwood, Toronto Centre) and provincial (York South) parliaments. Rae was a New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament from 1978 to 1982. He then moved to provincial politics, serving as leader of the Ontario NDP from February 7, 1982, to June 22, 1996. After leading his party to victory in the 1990 provincial election he served as the 21st Premier of Ontario from October 1, 1990, to June 26, 1995, and was the first person to have led a provincial NDP government in the province of Ontario. While in office, he brought forward a number ...
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Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight children's books, and two graphic novels, and a number of small press editions of both poetry and fiction. Atwood has won numerous awards and honors for her writing, including two Booker Prizes, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Governor General's Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, Princess of Asturias Awards, and the National Book Critics and PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Awards. A number of her works have been adapted for film and television. Atwood's works encompass a variety of themes including gender and identity, religion and myth, the power of language, climate change, and "power politics". Many of her poems are inspired by myths and fairy tales which interested her from a very early age. Oates, ...
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Joseph Boyden
Joseph Boyden (born October 31, 1966) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer of Irish and Scottish descent. He also claims Indigenous descent, but this is widely disputed. Joseph Boyden is best known for writing about First Nations culture. ''Three Day Road'', a novel about two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I, was inspired by Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper. Joseph Boyden's second novel, '' Through Black Spruce'', follows the story of Will, son of one of the characters in ''Three Day Road''. The third novel in the Bird family trilogy was published in 2013 as '' The Orenda''. Life and career Joseph Boyden grew up in Willowdale, North York, Ontario, and attended the Jesuit-run Brebeuf College School. The ninth of eleven children, he is the son of Blanche (Gosling) and Raymond Wilfrid Boyden, a medical officer renowned for his bravery, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was the most highl ...
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Through Black Spruce
''Through Black Spruce'' is a novel by Canadian writer Joseph Boyden, published in 2008 by Viking Press. It is Boyden's second novel and third published book. ''Through Black Spruce'' was named the winner of the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize on November 11, 2008. Plot summary ''Through Black Spruce'' is set in Moosonee, Ontario and is narrated by Will Bird and his niece Annie Bird with the narration switching between chapters. Will, a former bush pilot, is in a coma. Over the course of the novel Will recounts the events of the previous year which led to him being in a coma to his nieces, Annie and Suzanne. Meanwhile, in the present day, Annie recounts the previous year of her life and her sojourns to Toronto, Montreal, New York City and Moose Factory Ontario to see Will in an attempt to help to revive him from his coma. Film adaptation A film adaptation by Don McKellar was released in 2018, receiving two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards The ...
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Scotiabank Giller Prize
The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries. The prize was established in 1994 by Toronto businessman Jack Rabinovitch in honour of his late wife Doris Giller, a former literary editor at the ''Toronto Star'', and is awarded in November of each year along with a cash reward (then CAN$25,000) with the winner being presented by the previous year's winning author. Since its inception, the Giller Prize has been awarded to emerging and established authors from both small independent and large publishing houses in Canada. History From 1994 to 2004, the prize included a bronze figure created by artist Yehouda Chaki. The current prize includes a trophy designed by Soheil Mosun. On September 22, 2005, the Giller Prize established an endorsement deal ...
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The Time In Between
''The Time in Between'' is a novel by Canadian author David Bergen. It deals with a man, who mysteriously returns to Vietnam, where he had been a soldier earlier in his life, followed by his children, who also go to Vietnam to search for him. The novel was the recipient of the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award in 2005. Plot Charles Boatman, an army veteran suddenly disappears and his daughter Ada and her younger brother Jon on finding some clues go looking out for him in Danang, Vietnam. The novel mixes various stories from different timeframes narrating Charles's days in Washington when he was young. He married Sara and had daughter Ada while living in Fraser Valley of British Columbia. He gets posted in the wartime era to Vietnam and serves there and upon arrival discovers his wife's infidelity. Sara dies early and by then they also had a son Jon. Charles keeps getting nightmares of his Vietnam days on how he killed an innocent civilian bo ...
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McClelland & Stewart
McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was founded in 1906 as McClelland and Goodchild by John McClelland and Frederick Goodchild, both originally employed with the "Methodist Book Room" which was in 1919 to become the Ryerson Press. In December 1913 George Stewart, who had also worked at the Methodist Book Room, joined the company, and the name of the firm was changed to McClelland, Goodchild and Stewart Limited. When Goodchild left to form his own company in 1918, the company's name was changed to McClelland and Stewart Limited, now sometimes shortened to M&S. The first known imprint of the press is John D. Rockefeller's ''Random Reminiscences of Men and Events.'' In the earliest years, M&S concentrated primarily on exclusive distribution and printing agreements with foreign-owned pub ...
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A Year Of Lesser
''A Year of Lesser'' is the first novel of Canadian author David Bergen. It was published in 1996 by HarperCollins in Canada and the United States. The novel won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award in 1996. Plot Johnny Fehr is a Mennonite Christian working as a salesman and living in a Canadian small town called Lesser, close to Winnipeg, Manitoba. At the start of the story his father commits suicide. The town of Lesser is a small community and hence every personal thing sooner or later becomes public. Johnny has his own problems like being an alcoholic and also being addicted to drugs. He falls in love with Lorraine and that brings excitement to his life. But he is already married to Charlene and also has kids with her. The scandal breaks open into the society and with turn of events Johnny loses his family of wife and children, his lover and also his few close friends. Coming from orthodox thoughts, people start treating him like a sinner but Johnny wishes to still l ...
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Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere (born October 1957) is a Canadian lecturer, author, broadcaster, teacher, arts and media critic, currently the program director of the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival in Toronto.John Semley, "Can we play with madness?: Toronto's Rendezvous with Madness festival chips away at the lingering stigmas surrounding mental health". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 3, 2016. He is a former film critic, book columnist and cultural journalist for the ''Toronto Star'', where he worked from 1998 to 2011. His writing has appeared in several newspapers, magazines and arts journals, and he has worked as a broadcaster for both radio and television. He has lectured widely on cultural and media topics, and taught courses at several Canadian universities and colleges. In 2012, he contributed weekly pop culture columns to CBC Radio Syndication, which were heard in nearly twenty markets across Canada. He has also been a movie columnist and regular freelance contributor with ''The Globe ...
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