Description

Co-Cultural Panel: Our Cultures, Ourselves

In general, when people refer to culture, they tend to think of other cultures — Mexican quinceaños or Irish wakes or aboriginal walkabouts. They often gloss over their own culture as a culture in its own right, because one’s own culture is often invisible. The proverb “the fish are the last to see the water” captures this built-in cultural blindness.

This panel will discuss such questions as these:

• When did you first become aware that you were part of a particular culture?
• Do you identify yourself by your culture? Do you think, “I’m a Canadian writer.”
• Because of our mobile world, you may have lived in, or been deeply affected by, other cultures than the one in which you were born and raised. How has this shaped you as a writer?
• How did your culture influence your decision to become a writer?
• How does your culture inform and affect your writing?
• What responsibility do you feel as a writer to educate readers about your culture?

Panelists: Joseph Boyden, Rita Dove, John Vaillant, Jorge Volpi

Moderator: Louisa Rogers