Canadian Literature of 2008

Omnivoracious has a nice write-up about the 5 Best Books Out of Canada This Year. Sure, these aren’t necessarily translations, but they are international . . . and if there’s any English-speaking country whose literature receives less attention in the U.S. than books in translation, it’s Canada. (I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I don’t think I’ve read a book by a Canadian author this year.)

Of the books listed — which include Blackstrap Hawco by Kenneth J. Harvey, The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci, Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden, and Dark Days by Kerry Pither — the one that sounds most interesting to me is Cockroach:

Cockroach: Lebanese immigrant Rawi Hage brings his Montreal community of outsiders to life through the tales of a thief—the self-described “cockroach” who lives off the scraps of the privileged—forced in to therapy after a public suicide attempt.