News

Lawrence Hill visits the Netherlands

Lawrence Hill, author of several novels and works of non-fiction, gave two presentations on ‘Faction: Fact And Fiction In Afro-Canadian Literature’.

On Monday, October 17, Hill spoke in Professor Nina van Gessel’s Canadian Literature class at the Vrije Universiteit (Free University) in Amsterdam. Students were actively engaged in exploring the question of what constitutes a Canadian identity. Hill related his experiences growing up in a white Toronto suburb with a black father and a white mother. His book Black Berry, Sweet Juice juxtaposes Hill’s experiences with those of other Canadians of black and white parentage. The book’s title derives from a saying among North American blacks, with an addition passed along by Hill’s father: “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. But if you get too black, it ain’t no use.”

Hill’s novel Any Known Blood is a compelling story about five generations of an African-Canadian-American family. The narrative moves from the slave trade of 19th-century Virginia to the modern suburbs of Oakville, Ontario, once part of the Underground Railroad. On Tuesday, October 18, Hill spoke in Conny Steenman-Marcusse’s course on Literatures in English in Zierikzee. A lively discussion centred on North American ‘black’ literature as written by James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, and Langston Hughes in the United States, and in Canada, by Austin Clarke, Dionne Brand, Shani Mootoo and George Elliott Clarke, to mention just a few.

The ASCN was very pleased to host Lawrence Hill. For her help hosting Hill’s October 17 lecture, thanks to Professor van Gessel at the Vrije Universiteit. For her assistance facilitating Hill’s visit in the Netherlands, thanks to Professor Christl Verduyn, Canadian Studies coordinator at Wilfrid Laurier University, on sabbatical this year in Leiden.

To know more about Lawrence Hill’s work, please consult his website www.lawrencehill.com.