Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Great Canadian Literary Quiz

by Darlene Ryan

If you're looking for Sandra Parshall, she's away today, but please keep reading for the chance to stretch your brain and learn some literary trivia. You asked for it, well some of you did, and here it is: The companion to the Great Canadian Quiz from September. The Great Canadian Literary Quiz. There are ten questions covering everything from Canadian humour to the classic, Anne of Green Gables.

Good luck. (* Answers are now in Comments.)

1. Viking Canada released a prequel to Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables early this year. Name the book and the author.
(Bonus points if you can name one of the other two writers nominated along with this author for the 2007 Ann Connor Brimer award.) I will be deeply wounded if no one gets the bonus question.

2. This writer is well-known for his humourous non-fiction. His books include How to be a Canadian, and Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw. His most recent novel is set in the southern US of the 1930s and features a con man who doesn't really have the heart for the con. The novel has its own soundtrack of all original songs including three with lyrics by the author.
Name the book and the author.

3. In this fantasy a man finds himself in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a Bengal tiger. Name the book.
(Bonus points if you can name the author or the tiger.)

4. "Rage is not a lifetime commitment, but only a passage of darkness in the mind, a cold shiver of the soul." These words were written by a poet and novelist from my home province. In 1967 he won the Governor General's award for poetry for Bread, Wine and Salt. Name the author.

5. This children's author is best known for his book about a mother's enduring love for her child but he also wrote a very popular book about a princess with a unique sense of fashion. Name the author and either of these two books.
(Bonus points for naming both books.)


6. This author of books about Canadian history, including the best-selling The Last Spike, about the building of the Canadian railway, was also a panelist on the CBC television show Front Page Challenge. Name the author.

7. This humourist was actually born in England. One of his most popular pieces is "How We Kept Mother's Day." Each year a prize of ten thousand dollars is awarded in his name to the most humourous book published in Canada written by a Canadian author. (Hint: the author in question 2 was one of the 2008 nominees.) Name the author.

8. Tired of being away from home on long book-signing tours this author invented the Long Pen. What is a Long Pen and who is the author?

9. This mother of three writes The Otherworld paranormal suspense series. Her characters include a werewolf, a teen witch and a ghost world bounty hunter. Name the author.

10. This mystery writer, the creator of Inspector Banks, was born in Yorkshire, England. Among others he's won the Anthony and Barry awards and the Arthur Ellis award. Name the author.

9 comments:

Auntie Knickers said...

Well, #3 is Life of Pi, but I can't remember the author's name or the tiger's, and it would be cheating to look them up. #7 is Stephen Leacock, surely. #10 is Peter Robinson. Pretty sure the children's book first mentioned is Love You Forever (what a weeper!) Also can't recall author's name. I'm guessing Darlene Ryan is one of the bonus answers to question 1? I'm not seeing some of my favorite Canadian authors here such as Alistair MacLeod, Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies...and I suppose some of the more popular mystery authors were left out as being too easy. Obviously I need to read more widely.

Anonymous said...

Ah, but Auntie, Margaret Atwood IS the answer to one of these questions.

Sofie Kelly said...

Auntie, you're doing very well. And yes, we did leave out some of the more popular mystery authors just to make things more challenging. :) But Susan is correct, Margaret Atwood is the answer to one of the questions.

Unknown said...

#1. Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
bonus - K.V. Johansen

#2. Will Ferguson
#3. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
#4. Alden Nowlan
#5. Robert Munsch, Paper Bag Princess & Love you Forever
#6. Pierre Berton
#7. Stephen Leacock
#8. Margaret Atwood
#9. ????
#10. Peter Robinson

Sofie Kelly said...

Very good, Marlyn. I'm not saying what's right and what isn't at the moment, but I will say you know your Canadian writers.

Anonymous said...

The answer to the bonus question for #1 has to be you, Darlene. I know both books for #5--I think--The Paperbag Princess and I Love Your Forever. For #8 it's Margaret Atwood and isn't the Long Pen that device she invented to sign books by remote control?

Anonymous said...

#9 is Kelley Armstrong, author of Bitten, Stolen and Living With the Dead (and other Otherworld books).

Sofie Kelly said...

Here are the answers:

1. Before Green Gables, Budge Wilson
Bonus: Janet McNaughton or Darlene Ryan

2. Spanish Fly, Will Ferguson

3. Life of Pi
Bonus: Yann Martel (author) Richard Parker (tiger)

4. Alden Nowlan

5. Robert Munsch,The Paperbag Princess, I Love Your Forever

6. Pierre Burton

7. Stephen Leacock

8. Margaret Atwood, the Long Pen is a device for signing books at a distance

9. Kelley Armstrong

10. Peter Robinson

Elizabeth Zelvin said...

Wasn't it Stephen Leacock who wrote the immortal sentence: "He jumped on his horse and galloped madly away in all directions"?