between-the-covers-magazine-in-the-canada

  In Canada, we are obsessed with defining ourselves. We hold royal commissions on our national character; we write policy papers on multiculturalism; we perpetually ask the mirror, "What does it mean to be here, now? " But if you are looking for the honest truth about identity and culture , you won’t find it in a government mandate letter. You won’t find it in the polished press releases of the top-selling magazines. The official story of identity and culture is often presented as a mosaic—a polite arrangement of distinct, non-overlapping tiles. But real life is not a mosaic. It is a watercolour painting left out in the rain. It is messy, bleeding at the edges, and impossible to categorise. This is why we turn to literature. While the state defines our borders, it is the books about cultural identity that define our souls. At Between the Covers , we believe that reading is the only way to navigate the chaotic intersection of who we were told to be and who we actually are. ...