Beloved of readers and writers alike, Carol Shields was a formidable creative force. e author of dozens of books, she won a Pulitzer Prize and an Orange Prize, a Governor General's award, and many other honours and recognitions. And this extraordinary writer's work continues to inspire lovers of language from around the world.

Carol Shields: Evocation and Echo gathers together a bouquet of literary responses. Critics, friends, and fellow writers from North America and Europe here respond to the writing of Carol Shields. Their observations, augmentations, and creative interventions make for a collection that pays homage to Shields, but nonetheless possesses its own distinctive flavour. Her magnificent words continue to reverberate, evoking laughter and memory, and echoing her perceptive eloquence.

Contents

Acknowledgements ix    Aritha van Herk, Introduction: Potluck 1    Conny Steenman-Marcusse, Introduction: Pleasure 7    Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields, who Died Last Week, Wrote Books that were full of Delights 11    Sara Cassidy, Calling My Mother 17    Carol Shields, Boy Waking Up 20    Sara Cassidy, After the Tsunami, December, 2004 21    Carol Shields, Two Old Friends Who Arrived at Dawn 22    Sara Cassidy, My Mother Arriving at Dawn 23    Joan Clark, The Man Who Loved Mary Swann 25    Marjorie Anderson, Miranda's Readings 33    Gunilla Florby, Malvern Pudding: Thoughts on Rereading The Stone Diaries 41    Alex Ramon, Gertrude, The Fourth 47    Elizabeth Hay, Readers are an Unruly Lot 51    Isabel Huggan, Remembering Carol 53    Conny Steenman-Marcusse, Below and Behold 59    Gudrun Björk Gudsteinsdóttir, Notes Recovered from a Rhyming Dictionary 69    Susan Swan, Mary Swann: The Mystery Solved 73    Blanche Howard, Of Friendship and Carol Shields 77    Janice Kulyk Keefer, That Malvern Pudding 81    Anne Giardini, A Wood, 2009 87    Charlotte Sturgess, Moving On 91    Peter Oliva, Carol Shields, Dogs and Mischief 101    Christl Verduyn, Fool's Gold 107    Aritha van Herk, Debris 113    Marsha Hanen, Feminist Musings and Unless 123    Martin Levin, Carol's Kindness 131    Jane Urquhart, A Generous Spirit 135    Carol Shields, The Writing Life 139    By Carol Shields 145

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