These three Canadian authors have soared to the top of the charts with their best-selling books and helped put Canada on the literary map.
At first glance, writers Malcolm Gladwell, Eckhart Tolle, and Joseph Boyden may not have much in common. Social science writer Gladwell hails from Britain, spiritual teacher Tolle from Germany, and writer-in-residence Boyden from Willowdale, Ontario. However, all three share Canadian citizenship and a similar passion for words and writing.
Malcolm Gladwell
By Kris Krüg – https://www.flickr.com/photos/poptech2006/2967350188/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=71186344
There’s no denying Malcolm Gladwell’s rise to the top. Born in Britain and raised in Ontario, Gladwell now resides in New York.
He is a staff writer for The New Yorker and has published three New York Times Bestsellers:
- The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference in 2000;
- Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking in 2005;
- and his 2008 sensation, Outliers: The Story of Success. All three deal with the social sciences and how our environment impacts our lives.
Gladwell was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People by Time magazine in 2005 and is sought out around the world for public appearances and readings.
Eckhart Tolle
Like Gladwell, Tolle has made a name for himself by analyzing the world around him. However, Tolle’s main interest is that of spirituality and religion. Born in Germany, Tolle now resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Tolle, a spiritual teacher and motivator, has written five books since 1999.
These are:
- The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment;
- Practicing the Power of Now;
- Stillness Speaks: Whispers of Now;
- A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose;
- and Oneness With All Life: Inspirational Selections from A New Earth.
Tolle has also released several Audiobooks about guidance and spirituality.
The Power of Now and A New Earth both topped the charts in the New York Times Bestseller List and A New Earth is also featured in the prestigious Oprah’s Book Club.
Joseph Boyden
Joseph Boyden grew up in Ontario and is new to the best-selling scene with his successful Three Day Road in 2005. It was nominated for a Governor General Award and won the Roger Writers Trust Fiction Fund Prize. His second book, Through Black Spruce, published in 2008, won the Scotia Bank Gillar Prize. Boyden has indicated that there is a third book, the final in a trilogy, in the making.
Boyden uses his Metis heritage as inspiration for his novels that tell of a Cree soldier and his struggle through war. He currently is the writer in residence at the University of New Orleans, but still considers Northern Ontario his home.
Of course, Canadian contemporary literature doesn’t stop with these writers. There are hundreds of incredible Canadian authors just waiting to be read.
Check out Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Douglas Coupland, Yann Martel, Elizabeth Smart, Scott Morrison, Christian Lander, Sara Gruen, Elizabeth Hay, William P Young, Miriam Toews, Alice Munro, Ian and Will Ferguson and prepare to be impressed.