Literary Arts

Writing

For reasons ranging from settlement patterns to economic circumstance and education, writing as a cultural form did not take root for many years. Instead, individuals relied on the oral traditions to pass along the stories, traditions and culture of the people and their communities. This has resulted in a distinct oral literature contained in folksongs and ballads, folk drama such as mummering, proverbs, rhymes, recitations, personal experience narratives and folktales.

It wasn’t until 1923 when E. J. Pratt of Western Bay published his Newfoundland Verse that an indigenous literature began to occur. Today, writing in Newfoundland and Labrador has matured and evolved into solid and diverse bodies of work. NL's nationally and internationally recognized writers include, to name a few, Gerhard Bassler, Michelle Butler Hallett, Mark Callanan, Joan Clark, Libby Creelman, Michael Crummey, Kenneth J. Harvey, Joel Thomas Hynes, Wayne Johnston, Ed Kavanagh, Kevin Major, Janet McNaughton, Lisa Moore, Bernice Morgan, Donna Morrissey, Pat Warner, Kathleen Winter, and Michael Winter.

It is difficult to determine just how many writers live and work in this province. Nonetheless, according to WANL, the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador, this province has more writers per capita than any other province, with a corresponding higher proportion of writers who are considered by national standards to be successful.

Publishing

The first printing press arrived in Newfoundland in 1807, and subsequent years saw publishing commercial and artistic ventures, advancing an unique and established culture for the province in the wake of the decline of the British Mercantile system under Colonial rule.

Publishing continued as a relatively small sector in the early parts of the twentieth century, through Confederation, up until the province’s cultural renaissance in the early 1970s.

About this time, and on into the 1980s, two publishers of note helped to swing the pendulum: Clyde Rose of Breakwater Books and Ivan Jesperson of Jesperson Press. Joining them later were Harry Cuff Publications (now defunct), and then Creative Book Publishing. In 1985 the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Publishers Association was formed and ran until 2005. In 1994, Flanker Press came on the scene, and in 2007, Breakwater and Jesperson merged to form one company.

Each publisher produces a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry on various imprints. However, the book publishing business has always been a challenge within Canada and, in particular, Newfoundland Labrador. These difficulties are due, in part, to the lack of critical mass, the expense of book publishing, the difficulty of competing with national chains and marketing systems and evolving technology. In order to survive and also to meet future demands, both Breakwater and Jesperson entered the educational market in the 1980s where a market demand could be guaranteed.

In addition to the province’s publishing houses, magazines of national renown such as TickleAce (now defunct) and Them Days (now expanding operations) augmented the sector by their publication. In 2007, the cultural journal Riddle Fence began publication with plans for three issues a year. Today, the Publishing sector within the province continues to grow in tandem with the increasing recognition of the Literary sector overall.