Posts by Ken McGoogan
The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson
So here’s a review that turned up in the Globe on July 11. FATAL JOURNEY:The Final Expedition of Henry Hudson By Peter C. Mancall (Basic Books, 288 pages, $31) By Ken McGoogan Four centuries ago next year, on April 17, 1610, Henry Hudson sailed out of London on a small wooden ship called Discovery. A…
Read MoreAh, so! A reviewer of taste and intelligence
The book is written by Peter Mancall. But the significant bit in the Winnipeg Free Press review turns up in the third sentence, when Ian Stewart writes: “From the point of view of this armchair voyager, Mancall ranks with the finest contemporary Canadian writers in Arctic and Western Canadian exploration history, Ken McGoogan, D’Arcy Jennish…
Read MoreLucky Seventeen
Ottawa writer Rob McLennan keeps a terrific literary blog. One of the highlights is 12-or-20-questions, in which he enters into a dialogue with various writers. He stumped me with three questions, but I managed to answer seventeen — long a lucky number for me. The dialogue begins . . . 1 – How did your…
Read MoreFilm based on Fatal Passage wins a Rockie
Wonderful to see the movie version of Fatal Passage getting the attention it deserves. The Grand Prize for best Canadian program at the Banff World Television Awards — commonly called a “Rockie” — has gone to the 90-minute docudrama, Passage, which is based on my book. It tells the story of John Rae, the Orcadian…
Read MoreShout out to Richard Flanagan!
Sooner or later, you knew I would get around to reading “Wanting,” an acclaimed novel set partly in Tasmania, and featuring my old familiar friends Jane Franklin, John Franklin, Charles Dickens and Mathinna, the aboriginal girl Jane adopted. It’s a wonderful work but in case you think me biased . . . . A Los…
Read MoreBookish ex-farmer inspires unrepetant urbanite
This reminiscence of mine turned up a while back on the Facts & Arguments page in the Globe and Mail. Surely it deserves a second life in cyberspace? The time: July, 1975. The place: Nelson, British Columbia. A young Canadian urbanite, desperate for a summer job, finds work as a “green-chain man” at a sawmill…
Read MoreFatal Passage fuels Inuit refutation at British Museum
First came my book Fatal Passage, which revealed the dastardly machinations of Jane Franklin and Charles Dickens. PTV Productions based a docudrama on the book (Passage) which aired on BBC Scotland and won acclaim at film festivals in Canada. Tagak Curley and I met during the London filming of key segments of the movie. And…
Read MoreLiterary Review of Canada
The April issue of The Literary Review of Canada carried a terrific review of Race to the Polar Sea. Editor Bronwyn Drainie encourages authors to respond to reviews, and I happily did so. The May issue of LRC, which is turning up now in better bookstores, carries letters from John Ralston Saul and Stephen Clarkson,…
Read MoreOur hero surfaces in Up Here magazine
You’ve got to love a shout line on the front of the magazine: “Author Ken McGoogan on Cook, Peary & the Polar Centennial.” And the article takes a position. I’m sorry to report that it’s not accessible online. Guess Up Here wants you to subscribe. Anyway, the piece beings like so: One hundred years ago…
Read MoreCreative Non-Fiction rolls into the Beaches
YO, THANKS HUGELY FOR YOUR INTEREST! BUT I AM URGENTLY ADVISED THAT BOTH WORKSHOPS MENTIONED BELOW ARE FULL TO OVERFLOWING. FOR THOSE INTERESTED, I WILL BE RUNNING AN EIGHT-WEEK WORKSHOP IN CREATIVE NON-FICTION THIS AUTUMN AT UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, CONTINUING EDUCATION. Would-be writers are clamoring to learn more about creative non-fiction. An initial workshop offering…
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