The Black Atlantic Reconsidered Wins 2015 Gabrielle Roy Prize

Congratulations to Winfried Siemerling, author of The Black Atlantic Reconsidered: Black Canadian Writing, Cultural History, and the Presence of the Past for winning the 2015 Gabrielle Roy Prize (English section), from the Association for Canadian and Quebec Literatures (ACQL)!

“Winfried Siemerling’s The Black Atlantic Reconsidered: Black Canadian Writing, Cultural History, and the Presence of the Past is a ground-breaking and consequential volume. It examines black Canadian writing in both English and French from the early eighteenth century to the present, contextualizing it vis-à-vis the nation-state and the transnational black Atlantic. Poised to galvanize scholarly and classroom conversations on this understudied corpus, Siemerling’s book, which analyzes black Canadian literary representations of history, is history-making in its own right.” Gabrielle Roy Jury

The Prize being accepted on behalf of Winfried Siemerling by Jonathan Crago, Editor-in-Chief of McGill-Queen’s University Press. Photo courtesy of ACQL.

The Gabrielle Roy Prize (English section) is awarded each year and honours the best work of Canadian literary criticism published in English. The winner was chosen by a jury composed of Andrea Beverley (Mount Allison University), Gregory Betts (Brock University), and Misao Dean (University of Victoria). Congratulations to Winfried Siemerling on this wonderful achievement!

The Black Atlantic Reconsidered
Black Canadian Writing, Cultural History, and the Presence of the Past

By Winfried Siemerling

A survey of English and French black Canadian writing and its transnational connections from the eighteenth century to the present.

Readers are often surprised to learn that black writing in Canada is over two centuries old. Ranging from letters, editorials, sermons, and slave narratives to contemporary novels, plays, poetry, and non-fiction, black Canadian writing represents a rich body of literary and cultural achievement. Read more>