A collection of original pieces by some of Canada's best known writers. The essays ask, and attempt to answer, what it means to be a writer in Canada, what the literature of today can tell us about Canada's social arrangements, its political and aesthetic shapes, and its preoccupations. Contributors include Margaret Atwood, Nicole Brossard, Richard Van Camp, David Chariandy, George Elliott Clarke, Sheila Fischman, Camilla Gibb, Hiromi Goto, Rawi Hage, Michael Helm, Stephen Henighan, Lawrence Hill, Greg Hollingshead, Lee Maracle, Lisa Moore, Heather O'Neill, Michael Ondaatje, Marie-Helaine Poitras, Pascale Quiviger, Nino Ricci, Eden Robinson, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Madeleine Thien, Judith Thompson, M.G. Vassanji, Rita Wong.