Toward A Calgary Reading List
Scribblers & Scrabblers: 1920s Calgary
Calgary & the Governor General's Literary Awards
How Twelve Authors Have Captured Calgary's Character
Below, you'll find a list of the works featured on my blog Writing the City, and organized by genre. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for stories and poems set in and around the Calgary Stampede.
If you have a favourite Calgary story or poem, please let me know. In the meantime, happy reading!
Early Fiction
Dickson, H. Nelson, “The Sack of Calgary” (1915)
Edwards, Bob, “Society Notes” (1910)
Edwards, Bob, “The Eye Opener Road Race of 1906” (1920)
Reeve, Winnifred Eaton, Cattle (1923)
Stringer, Arthur, The Prairie Child (1922)
Contemporary Fiction
Abdou, Angie, The Bone Cage (2007)
Adderson, Caroline, Ellen in Pieces (2014)
Albahari, David, Snow Man (2005)
Alford, Edna, “Half Past Eight” (1981)
Altrows, Rona, “Rouleauville” (2016)
Badami, Anita Rau, Tamarind Mem (1996)
Ballem, John, Alberta Alone (1981)
Ballem, John, The Barons (1991)
Berner, Geoff, Festival Man (2013)
Bush, Maureen, The Veil Weavers (2012)
Calder, Susan, “Adjusting the Ashes” (2003)
Calder, Susan, Deadly Fall (2011)
Deliyannides, Marika, Bitter Lake (2014)
Douglas, Marion, Bending at the Bow (1995)
Edugyan, Esi, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne (2004)
Endicott, Marina, The Little Shadows (2012)
Flanagan, Jackie, Grass Castles (1998)
Freedman, Benedict and Nancy, Mrs. Mike (1947)
Giles, W. Mark, Knucklehead & Other Stories (2003)
Gillmor, Don, Long Change (2015)
Goto, Hiromi, Chorus of Mushrooms (1994)
Govier, Katherine, Between Men (1987)
Govier, Katherine, The Three Sisters Bar & Hotel (2016)
Greene, Graham, “Dear Dr Falkenheim” (1963)
Hahnel, Lori, Love Minus Zero (2008)
Hahnel, Lori, “Good Friday, at the Westward” (2012)
Hegerat, Betty Jane, Running Toward Home (2006)
Howard, Barb, Whipstock (2001)
Howard, Barb, “Still Making Time,” Western Taxidermy (2012)
Howard, Barb, “Saturday Afternoon at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede” (2016)
Hunter, Bruce, In the Bear’s House (2009)
Huston, Nancy, Plainsong (1993)
Johnson, Sarah L., “A Ballad for Wheezy Barnes” (2016)
Kroetsch, Robert, Alibi (1983)
Ladha, Yasmin, Blue Sunflower Startle (2010)
MacLeod, Alistair, No Great Mischief (1999)
Mayr, Suzette, Monoceros (2011)
Meese, Eugene, A Magpie’s Smile (2009)
Mitchell, W. O., The Vanishing Point (1973)
Mitchell, W. O., For Art’s Sake (1992)
Morin, Elaine, “Digging in Heels” (2008)
Nixon, Rosemary, Are You Ready to Be Lucky? (2013)
Parry, Nerys, Man & Other Natural Disasters (2011)
Poulsen, David, Serpents Rising (2014)
Ravvin, Norman, Café des Westens (1991)
Rees, Roberta, Long After Fathers (2007)
Scott, Barbara, The Quick (1999)
Simmons, Catherine, “A Man’s House Is” (1985)
Sorbie, Anne, Memoir of A Good Death (2010)
Spoon, Rae, First Spring Grass Fire (2012)
Stenson, Fred, “The Hockey Widow,” Teeth (1994)
Swart, Laura, Blackbird Calling (2016)
van Herk, Aritha, Restlessness (1998)
Vanderhaeghe, Guy, The Last Crossing (2002)
Wagamese, Richard, A Quality of Light (1997)
Willis, Deborah, “Sky Theatre,” Vanishing and Other Stories (2009)
Wright, L.R., Among Friends (1984)
Early Nonfiction
Brooke, Rupert, Letters from America (1916)
Denny, Sir Cecil, The Law Marches West (1939)
Gard, Robert E., Johnny Chinook: Tall Tales and True from the Canadian West (1967)
contemporary nonfiction
Backhouse, Frances, Once They Were Hats (2015)
Black, Shirley, “Under the Bridge” (2011)
Callaghan, Barry, “After the Fall: A Sadness at the Heart of Calgary”
Campbell, Miji, Separation Anxiety (2014)
Davidson, Craig, Precious Cargo (2016)
Dixon, Glenn, Juliet’s Answer (2017)
Eisenberg, Ophira, Screw Everyone (2013)
Foggo, Cheryl, Pourin’ Down Rain (1990)
Gilkes, Margaret, Ladies of the Night (1989)
Huston, Nancy, “A Bucking Nightmare” (1997)
Kelly, Ellen, “Snapshots: Life, Peace and Coffee on the Home Front” (2012)
Kroetsch, Robert, Alberta (1968)
Kwong, Dale Lee, “Overcoming Adoption” (2011)
Lambert, Taylor, Darwin’s Moving (2017)
Lambert, Taylor, Rising (2014)
Loeppky, Lynette, Cease (2014)
MacKenzie, Lily, “Soul of the City” (2004)
Martini, Clem and Olivier, Bitter Medicine (2010)
McClung, Nellie, The Stream Runs Fast (1945)
Meisner, Natalie, Double Pregnant (2014)
Richler, Noah, This is My Country What’s Yours: A Literary Atlas of Canada (2006)
Scalplock, Ruth, My Name is Shield Woman (2014)
Stenson, Fred, The Story of Calgary (1994)
Turner, Chris, “Calgary Reconsidered” (2012)
van Herk, Aritha, Places Far From Ellesmere (1990)
van Herk, Aritha, Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta (2001)
Poetry
Bates, Maxwell, Far-Away Flags (1964)
Chan, Weyman, Chinese Blue (2012)
Cullen, Nancy Jo, Pearl (2006)
de Bernières, Louis, “A Brit Falls in Love with the 10th Street Bridge”
Demeanor, Kris, The Calgary Project (2014)
Dronyk, Dymphny, The Calgary Project (2014)
Frey, Cecelia, Under Nose Hill (2009)
Johnson, E. Pauline, Flint and Feather (1912)
McKay, Stuart Ian, “Weaselhead Variations” (2007)
Moss, Catherine, Swallowing My Mother (2001)
Page, P.K., The Hidden Room (1997)
Stallworthy, Bob, “Reading About Life,” Optics (2004)
Trainer, Yvonne, Tom Three Persons (2002)
Calgary Stampede
Alford, Edna, “Half Past Eight” (1981)
Backhouse, Frances, Once They Were Hats (2015)
Ballem, John, Alberta Alone (1981)
Dronyk, Dymphny, “What Beer Can Do,” The Calgary Project (2014)
Flanagan, Jackie, Grass Castles (1998)
Frey, Cecelia, “Ode to Fireworks During Stampede,” Under Nose Hill (2009)
Goto, Hiromi, Chorus of Mushrooms (1994)
Govier, Katherine, Between Men (1987)
Howard, Barb, “Saturday Afternoon at the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, 1977” (2016)
Huston, Nancy, Plainsong (1993)
Huston, Nancy, “A Bucking Nightmare” (1997)
Johnson, Sarah L., “A Ballad for Wheezy Barnes” (2016)
Mitchell, W. O., For Art’s Sake (1992)
Moss, Catherine, “Ruby Wedding Anniversary,” Swallowing My Mother (2001)
Trainer, Yvonne, Tom Three Persons (2002)
Turner, Chris, “Calgary Reconsidered” (2012)
van Herk, Aritha, Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta (2001)
van Herk, Aritha, “Pancake banquet,” Stampede and the Westness of West (2016)