View from the typewriter

A compilation of excerpts from National Film Board of Canada documentaries that deal with Canadian writers and their sense of place. Featuring readings from the works of Hugh MacLennan, W.O. Mitchell, Jack Hodges, Farley Mowat, Margaret Laurence, Earle Birney, Malcolm Lowry, Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood and Milton Acorn, the documentary examines how Canadian writers have attempted to make sense of a landscape and a geography that traverses huge differences of scale, topography and climate. The readings are powerful, including Richard Burton reading from Lowry’s work, and though specific to the Canadian experience, the film is also relevant to Australian writing about extremes of location. Just like English speaking Canadians, our writing too grapples with making sense of a country and terrain which encompasses the duality of being both “new” and ancient.