What is Stephen Harper Reading?

Inscription:

To Stephen Harper,
Prime Minister of Canada,
A great Canadian novel,
With sincere regards,
Steven Galloway

Letter:

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper


Prime Minister of Canada

80 Wellington Street


Ottawa ON K1A 0A2

Dear Mr. Harper,

It’s me again. I hope you enjoyed the last book I sent you, King Leary. Even if you haven’t yet read it, or don’t intend to read it, I still hope you enjoyed receiving it. Unexpected and free books arriving in the mail have become, now that the mysteries of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are blown, one of the few joyous gifts that come my way.

The book I have sent enclosed for you is another one of my favourites. I was in University when I read it for the first time, and it became one of the books that made me want to become a writer. It’s hard to argue that David Adams Richards’ novel For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down doesn’t have one of the best titles of any Canadian novel, or any novel period.

I’m sending you this novel for several reasons. For starters, it’s a wonderful book. Few writers capture working class life as well as Richards, and few are as able to make seemingly ordinary lives feel extraordinary. He’s written thirteen novels, most of them set in New Brunswick. He was recently made a member of the Order of Canada, and has won about every possible prize for this writing.

I think that one thing Canada is good at is being able to productively discuss ideas where there is disagreement. Tomorrow, I’ll be getting up before the sun and flying from Vancouver to New Brunswick where I’ll be taking part in Moncton’s Frye Festival. All across Canada, literary festivals are organized by people making little or no money. They are attended by readers of all political stripes, who happily part with some of their hard earned money to spend an afternoon or evening talking about and thinking about books and the ideas contained within them. Even when they don’t like the book. And the best festivals, the ones where people are the most energetic, are in places like Moose Jaw, Campbell River, and Sechelt. These festivals are often supported in part by the Federal Government. For this I am thankful. It makes us a better country.

It’s not about meeting the authors, though some people like that. But often meeting an author is a terribly disappointing event. Often the person’s not what you expect, isn’t as clever as their books, says something not so brilliant. And sometimes it’s your fault. A few years ago, I was in my publisher’s office in Toronto for some reason or other, and I was told that David Adams Richards was in the building if I would like to meet him. Well of course I did. We met as he was coming out of the lunch room, and he had a cup of coffee in his hand. I shook his free hand with too much gusto, which made him spill his coffee all over his shoe. It was completely my fault, and I felt like an idiot. Since then I have scrupulously avoided running into him again in the hope that he didn’t catch my name and that by the next time we meet I will have aged enough that he won’t recognize me.

Why do I mention this in a letter to the elected leader of my country? In a round about way, I’m trying to show you that writers aren’t elitists. We often sound like we are, and occasionally we even act like we are—when you spend most of your time in a room by yourself, misunderstandings are bound to occur. But on a base level, we’re ordinary people who happen to be good at writing down stories. And I think our stories are a big part of this country. Come to Moncton or anywhere else and you’d find a lot of people who think so too.

With sincere regards,

Steven Galloway

encl: one inscribed paperback

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