''Grain'' is a Canadian literary magazine featuring poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, and artwork. It is published quarterly by the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild and is based in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, Saskatchewan.

History

''Grain'' published its first issue in June 1973, a gestetner edition with stapled, taped bindings, and with cover art on a card-stock cover by a then new artist

Joe Fafard Joseph Fafard (September 2, 1942 – March 16, 2019) was a Canadian sculptor. Biography Joseph Fafard was a twelfth generation Canadian born in 1942 in Ste. Marthe, Saskatchewan, to French Canadians Leopold Fafard and Julienne Cantin. Fafard is ...

. The first edition, edited by

Ken Mitchell Ken Mitchell (born December 13, 1940) is a Canadian poet, novelist and playwright. Mitchell was raised on a rural farm outside the city of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Mitchell began his post-secondary education as a journalism student at Ryerson In ...

Anne Szumigalski Anne Szumigalski, SOM (b. 3 January 1922 in London, England, d. 22 April 1999) was a Canadian poet. Life She was born Anne Howard Davis in London, England, and grew up mostly in a Hampshire village. She served with the Red Cross as a medical ...

, and Caroline Heath included writings by

Robert Kroetsch Robert Paul Kroetsch (June 26, 1927 – June 21, 2011)

George Bowering George Harry Bowering, (born December 1, 1935) is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He was the first Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. He was born in Penticton, British Columbia, and raised in the nearby town o ...

, Robert Currie, and John V. Hicks, and cost $1.00. A subscription cost $2 a year, or $5 for three years. This was the first of a series of semi-annual issues. In 1976, Grain began publishing three issues a year, and then in 1981, moved to its present quarterly - four issues a year - state. Over the years it has published many prominent poets and authors from Canada and abroad. Overall, approximately 3,000 pieces of writing and over 500 art images have been published.

Short ''Grain'' Contest

The first Short ''Grain'' contest was announced in 1988. The contest would accept submissions in two categories: Postcard Stories: Narrative fiction under 500 words; and Prose Poem: A lyric poem written as a prose paragraph or paragraphs in 500 words or less. A total of 1000$ in awards was offered over 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in both categories. This first award was sponsored by M. C. Graphics, the printer of ''Grain''. In 1991 Houghton Boston Printers took over printing of ''Grain'' magazine. This year also marked a change in Short ''Grain'' sponsorship. Cheryl and Henry Kloppenburg, Barristers and Solicitors of Saskatoon, began sponsoring the Short ''Grain'' contest, which they continue to do. This contest now awards $4,500 in prizes annually between the categories of Poetry and Fiction/Creative Non-Fiction.

Editors

''Grain'' has had 11 editors in its 40-year history: *

* Caroline Heath * E.F. Dyck * Brenda Riches * Mick Burrs * Geoffrey Ursell * J. Jill Robinson * Elizabeth Philips * Kent Bruyneel *

Sylvia Legris Sylvia Legris (born 1960) is a Canadian poet. Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, she now lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She has published four volumes of poetry, the third of which, ''Nerve Squall'', won the 2006 Griffin Poetry Prize and Pat L ...

* Rilla Friesen

Notable contributors

''Grain'' has featured many renowned and award-winning writers including: * Ken Babstock *

Roo Borson Ruth Elizabeth Borson, who writes under the name Roo Borson (born January 20, 1952 in Berkeley, California) is a Canadian poet who lives in Toronto. After undergraduate studies at UC Santa Barbara and Goddard College, she received an MFA from th ...

Lorna Crozier Lorna Crozier, OC (born 24 May 1948) is a Canadian poet who holds the Head Chair in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria. She has authored fifteen books and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011. She is credited as ...

Jeramy Dodds Jeramy Dodds (born 4 December 1974 in Ajax, Ontario) is a Canadian poet. Born in Ajax, Ontario, Dodds grew up in Orono, Ontario. He studied English literature and anthropology at Trent University, medieval Icelandic studies at The University o ...

* Connie Gault * John V. Hicks *

Richard Holeton Richard Holeton (born December 28, 1952) is an American writer and higher-education administrator. Holeton's creative works are foundational in the hypertext and electronic literature genres. As a writer, his most notable work is the hypertext no ...

Barbara Klar Barbara Klar (born 1966 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian poet, who won the Gerald Lampert Award in 1994 for her poetry collection ''The Night You Called Me a Shadow''.Heather Hodgson, ''Saskatchewan Writers: Lives Past and Present''. Cana ...

Robert Kroetsch Robert Paul Kroetsch (June 26, 1927 – June 21, 2011)

* Patrick Lane * Tim Lilburn *

Yann Martel Yann Martel, (born 25 June 1963) is a Canadian author who wrote the Man Booker Prize–winning novel '' Life of Pi'', an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spen ...

* Don McKay *

A. F. Moritz Albert Frank Moritz (born April 15, 1947) is a United States-born Canadian poet, teacher, and scholar. Born in Niles, Ohio, Moritz was educated at Marquette University. Since 1975, he has made his home in Toronto, Ontario where he has worked vari ...

Al Purdy Alfred Wellington Purdy (December 30, 1918 – April 21, 2000) was a 20th-century Canadian free verse poet. Purdy's writing career spanned fifty-six years. His works include thirty-nine books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four b ...

Anne Simpson Anne Simpson is a Canadian poet, novelist, artist and essayist. She was a recipient of the Griffin Poetry Prize. Biography Simpson received her B.A. and M.A. degrees from Queen's University, and graduated in Fine Arts from OCAD University (form ...

Karen Solie Karen Solie (born 1966) is a Canadian poet. Born in Moose Jaw, Solie grew up on the family farm in southwest Saskatchewan. Over the years, she has worked as a farm hand, an espresso jerk, a groundskeeper, a newspaper reporter/photographer, an acad ...

* Moez Surani *

Guy Vanderhaeghe Guy Clarence Vanderhaeghe (born April 5, 1951) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer, best known for his Western novel trilogy, ''The Englishman's Boy'', '' The Last Crossing'', and ''A Good Man'' set in the 19th-century American and Can ...

* Jan Zwicky

References

External links