Compañeros: An Anthology of Writings About Latin America

Bob Lincoln is Head of the Acquisitions Department at the University of
Manitoba Libraries.

More than 200,000 Latin Americans reside in Canada, and it is about time
that their experience and heritage has been recognized by an anthology
of this quality, depth, and scope. Compaсeros is a collection of prose
narratives, excerpts from short stories and novels, and poetry assembled
from two decades of writing by English-Canadian and Québécois authors,
with additions by 14 other nationalities. Many items here are being
published in English for the first time; others have been previously
published by a host of well-respected small presses across Canada.

In all, 87 persons are included in this anthology, with about half the
works translated from French or Spanish. Authors who showed an early
interest in Latin America are represented by Hugh Garner, Earle Birney,
George Woodcock, and Eli Mandel. Québécois writers include Yolande
Villemaire, Luc Racine, Micheline Lévesque, and others.

Some of the most singular and moving writing is by Marilъ Mallet,
Edith Velбsquez, Salvador Torres, Tito Alvarado, and Alfonso Quijada
Urias. There is no category into which any of the writers fit neatly:
poets write short sketches and stories; novelists write poems;
professors create; film artists write. This collection cracks the door
and welcomes you in. Stay a while. Listen to the stories.

Co-editor Hazelton translated many of the French and Spanish pieces. A
brief listing of the authors and titles of published books is included
at the end for reference and further reading.