By the time Friday rolled around last week there was a veritable anthology of jokes to which “David Gilmour” was the punch line. The paper-bag jowls and complacent half-smile of his face pasted on News Feeds and blogs like an advert for a public flogging. Everywhere that CanLit went, so too went the name David […] More »

You’ve probably heard the tune, though you may not even know it—it’s definitely a candidate for 2013’s song of the summer, alongside Miley Cyrus’ also contentious We Can’t Stop. It’s floating in the air on every patio, blasting from cruising cars, oozing along the sidewalks in the club districts. “#BLURREDLINES” billboards loom over this city. […] More »

John Koerner is 100 years old and still making art. Really. If you haven’t heard of Koerner—a Vancouver-based modernist painter who basically kick-started said movement in Canada—or seen his work, you’re missing out. Lucky for you, he’s having a birthday party on June 9 in Burnaby, B.C., where you can hear him speak and see his work. […] More »

The National Academy of Science just published a study that shows what your Facebook ‘Likes’ reveal about your behaviours and personal life. The study released March 11 explains: “We show that easily accessible digital records of behavior, Facebook Likes, can be used to automatically and accurately predict a range of highly sensitive personal attributes including: […] More »

Earlier this week, the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother dedicated an episode to Canada, with appearances by famous Canuckers like Stephen Page, Geddy Lee, Alex Trebek and Jason Priestley. Going north of 44 is not exactly uncharted comedy territory — writing rooms from The Simpsons to The Colbert Report have mined Canada’s perceived […] More »

Susan Crean’s decision to write about her family servant and dear friend Mr. Wong takes her on a journey that reveals just as much about the ever-shifting nature of multiculturalism and identity in Canada as it does about Wong’s life It’s a brilliant Friday morning in August, 2011 just past nine o’clock, and the sidewalk […] More »

Let me preface by saying that I am a huge fan of pop music. I grew up obsessing over everyone from the Spice Girls to Sugar Jones, and while my musical taste has significantly changed since my preteen years, my appreciation for the smart and empowered females in pop has not. Take one look at Ellie Goulding […] More »

Chanel No. 5 has long been considered the classic woman’s fragrance. She who wears the haute couture brand’s most famous perfume is effortless in her sophistication, beauty, and elegance. Becoming the face of a Chanel No. 5, I can only imagine, is a compliment above all others; to be considered for the job is, in […] More »

My grandmother was the oldest of 13 brothers and sisters. One of my great-uncles was a brain surgeon—a colleague of Dr. Penfield’s, my grandmother would tell us proudly, never understanding why this fact was so entertaining to my brothers and I. But for anyone who grew up with Canadian television, the answer to this question […] More »

The man stood at the front of the room, facing a crowd of curious people. He appeared calm, but there was a definitive sense of sadness below the surface. “Have any of you ever felt your life slipping away from your hands?” he told the audience in Spanish (through an English interpreter). “I have.” His […] More »

A deeply disturbing attack on a Sikh temple in Wisconsin is shaking America right now. A “frustrated neo-Nazi” killed six people and critically wounded three before being shot by police himself. The temple attendees were preparing for their Sunday services before the shooting. Southern Poverty Law Center has released some new information about the alleged […] More »