Alberta Bound: Reading about Alberta We asked a number of experts on Albertan literature for recommendations. Thomas Wharton, Writer-in-Residence, University of Alberta in Edmonton, suggested checking out two books for a general introduction to Albertan authors and their works: The Wild Rose Anthology of Alberta Prose Edited by George Melnyk and Tamara Palmer Seiler University of Calgary Press, 2003 The Literary History of Alberta, Vols. 1 and 2 By George Melnyk University of Alberta Press, 1999 Thomas Wharton's favorite Albertan novels include (in chronological order): Johnny Chinook By Robert E. Gard, 1945 A collection of tall tales gathered by an American ethnographer. The attitudes in this book (esp. toward aboriginal people) are dated, but there are many great tales here to be enjoyed. Gard called Alberta "the home of the most fascinating folklore in all of Canada." The Double Hook By Sheila Watson, 1959 Most of this novel was written in British Columbia, but it was completed while Watson lived in Alberta. The first great modernist Canadian novel, written in a sparsely lyrical style that influenced succeeding generations of writers. The Temptations of Big Bear By Rudy Wiebe, 1973 An epic achievement, ambitious in scope and formal innovation, with an insightful vision of the province's neglected history and the lives of its first peoples. An absolutely crucial book. Wiebe has been an important mentor for younger writers. Badlands By Robert Kroetsch, 1975 It's difficult to select just one Kroetsch novel for this list. More than any other Alberta writer he has been engaged with language and voice, with the creation of place through literature. Badlands is noteworthy for the way its form and voice reflect, mimic and, comment on the landscape that is its primary setting.   Men for the Mountains By Sid Marty, 1978 A memoir and lament for the vanishing life of the backcountry park warden, and for the threatened wilderness that the park system is supposed to protect. Marty's account of his days as a park ranger is lyrically nostalgic, moving, and frequently hilarious. Obasan By Joy Kogawa, 1981 A novel of the Japanese immigrant experience during and after WWII, framed with evocative scenes set on the southern Alberta prairie. A novel that brings together the local and the wider world of major historical events. No Fixed Address By Aritha van Herk, 1985 A veritable travelogue of small-town Alberta, this novel is a fantastical, picaresque romp, but also deeply and realistically rooted in a particular geography and history. A feminist deconstruction of the myth of the lone western hero, and much more.  Green Grass, Running Water By Thomas King, 1989 A novel of aboriginal life set in southern Alberta, which mingles icons of white culture with native mythological figures like Coyote. Playful and comic, with an underlying and darkly biting social critique. An important voice for aboriginal literature in the west. Drowning in Darkness By Peter Oliva, 1994 A poetic, dreamlike story about a mining community in the Rockies, interspersed with fantastical stories and legends that the Italian immigrant miners have brought with them from their native country. Oliva is a storyteller in the grand Alberta tradition of the tall tale. The Trade By Fred Stenson, 2000 A darkly grand account of the fur-trading era in Alberta. The novel employs multiple perspectives and voices to illuminate the figures who fall between the cracks of official history. A novel that moves with assured skill from the epic to the intimate. ~~~~ Laurie Greenwood, owner of Laurie Greenwood's Volume II Books in Edmonton suggests:   The Icefields By Thomas Wharton This wonderful novel takes place in Jasper and is really a history of the area. Beginning with a near tragedy on a glacial icefield for a British adventurer, he finds himself repeatedly drawn back to Jasper and observes how it changes over time.   Grant MacEwan A prolific author about Alberta's history, MacEwan was the mayor of Calgary (1963-1965) and served as Lieutenant Governor of the Province from 1966-1974.  His many books chronicle early pioneer life, aboriginal stories, and the building of a province.