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Biography George Melnyk is a western Canadian writer who has authored or edited almost 30 books in a career that began in the 1970s. Raised and educated in Winnipeg, he has spent most of his life in Alberta. He founded the Edmonton-based journal NeWest Review in 1975 and NeWest Press in 1977. He then served as the executive director of the Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations, followed by the executive directorship of the Alberta Foundation for the Literary Arts. From the mid–eighties to the mid-nineties he was involved with the co-op movement publishing several books on the movement plus two newsletters.  He began teaching Canadian Studies at the University of Calgary on a sessional basis in 1993.  In 2000 he became an assistant professor.  He retired as a full professor of film studies in 2016.  He has published five books on Canadian cinema.  He also has co-edited two books on Alberta literature (a third is forthcoming in 2017). Currently he has returned to his favourite literary genre-creative nonfiction. His latest book of essays, First Person Plural, was published in 2015. In 2013 he was awarded THE GOLDEN PEN AWARD for lifetime achievement by the Writers Guild of Alberta. From 2013 to 2016 he served as the treasurer of the Writers Union of Canada. He joined the Board of Directors of PEN CANADA in 2016.

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Radical Regionalism (1981):  This is my first collection of essays. It is also my most famous book. It contains essays that I published in NeWest Review , a monthly journal of politics and culture. Among the essays are “Populist Art of the West,” “The Indian as Ethnic,” and “Radical Regionalism.” The book has been out-of-print for a long time. I have a number of hard-cover copies without dust jackets. It may be purchased via my PAYPAL button for $15 plus $5 postage (Canada), $10 (U.S.A.) and $15 (International).

Of The Spirit (1977):  This is my first book. In it I edit the early writings of the famous Canadian architect, Douglas Cardinal. Cardinal lived in Edmonton at the time and represented an indigenous aesthetic in his buildings. I got to know him personally and was impressed with his thinking and his First Nations’ heritage, which he translated into an innovative architectural style. The book has been out-of-print for 35 years. It is a collectible even though it was published by NeWest Press as a mass-market paperback that sold for $3.95.

The Gendered Screen (2010):  Canadian Women Filmmakers appeared in 2010. This collection of articles on women in Canadian cinema is co-edited by Brenda Austin-Smith of the University of Manitoba. Among the filmmakers discussed are Anne Wheeler, Lynne Stopkewich, Patricia Rozema, Mina Shum, and Deepa Mehta. The book reflects the importance of women filmmakers in Canada. The book is available from Wilfrid Laurier University Press. http://wlupress.wlu.ca/Catalog/austin-smith.shtml  

                  2017                                            2017                               2015                                    2014                                2011                                 2010                                2009                                             2008    

Wild Rose Anthology of Alberta Prose (2003): This book is an anthology of Alberta fiction and nonfiction from 1900 to 2000. It is the first collection of Alberta writing to have critical comments about each of the works and their authors. The volume introduces readers to the range of topics and styles that made up Alberta literature in the 20th century. The book is available from the University of Calgary Press. http://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781552380796  

The Art of University Teaching (2011):  Life in the University can be a challenge for both students and teachers. What seems on the surface to be a straightforward exercise in pedagogy can often take on many different permutations. This book explains the different ways that teaching expresses itself both from the professor’s perspective and the student’s. The contributors to this volume were all associated with the teaching-oriented, interdisciplinary Faculty of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary prior to its amalgamation into the Faculty of Arts. The book Is available from the publisher (Brush Education). http://www.brusheducation.ca/books/the-art-of-university-teaching  

New Moon at Batoche: Reflections on the Urban Prairie (1999):  New Moon at Batoche was my third collection of essays and the first to include visual images, including me as a boy in a bathtub. Among the essays in the book are “Why I am not a Good Ukrainian” and “ On Being a Self-styled Guru of Western Regionalism.” The book can be ordered through various online booksellers. The Banff Centre Press website lists them at https://www.banffcentre.ca/banff-centre-press   or you can order a copy from me for $20 via my PAYPAL button plus $5 postage in Canada, $10 for the U.S. and $15 abroad.

Literary History of Alberta Volume I (1998):  This two-volume work was the first literary history of a province outside of Quebec. Volume One covers the period from the pictographs of Writing-on-Stone to the beginning of World War Two. Besides having a discussion of exploration, territorial, and agrarian writing, Volume One includes a chapter on Francophone and other languages. The volume is well-illustrated. The book is available from the University of Alberta Press. http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/346-9780888642967-literary-history-of-alberta-volume  

Wild Words (2009):  Alberta literature refers to a literary identity that has been recognized only lately. This collection of essays on various Alberta writers and literary works from poetry to drama is the first of its kind. Co-edited by Donna Coates and George Melnyk it seeks to bring scholarly insight to the work of a range of writers, both contemporary and historical. The book has an introductory essay by Aritha van Herk. Among the writers discussed are the novelist Rudy Wiebe, the dramatist Sharon Pollock, and the creative nonfiction writer, Myrna Kostash. The book is available from Athabasca University Press in various formats. http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120153  

Young Restless and the Dead (2008):  New TextThis book is the only collection of interviews that I did. It was published in 2008 as Volume One. Unfortunately no further volumes ever appeared. Among the filmmakers that I and others interview are Michael Dowse, Mina Shum, Gary Burns, and Ann Wheeler. I found the cover provocative and the more I look at it over the years the more I see in it, just like my favourite films. Just reflect on the poke in the eye, the exposed teeth and mouth, and the naked arm along the top. The book is available from Wilfrid Laurier University Press. http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/press/Catalog/melnyk-1.shtml  

Literary History of Alberta Volume II (1999):  The Second Volume of The Literary History of Alberta covered the period from the end of World War Two to the end of the 20th century. I was part of that literary history and many of the authors I wrote about were or are my contemporaries. I covered all literary genres rather than just focus on “high literature.” This approach was part of my ongoing populism, seeing value in all sorts of writing and presenting literary history as an ecology with many different elements. I have always wanted to revise and update both volumes but have found no interest from the publisher. The book is available from the University of Alberta Press. http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/347-9780888643247-literary-history-of-alberta-volume-two  

         1998                                       1996                             1993                                       1993                                   1992                                 1989                                1985                                 1981                               1977

Ribstones (1996):  This is my first book of poetry. (A chapbook of mine had appeared in the mid-1980s). The title refers to a sacred rock carved with the ribs of a bison. Many of the poems came from my travels in the Caribbean, the American southwest, Europe and Asia. It is available from my PAYPAL button for $10 plus $3 postage (Canada), $6 (U.S.A) and $10 (International). Please CONTACT me if you would like a signed copy.

Great Canadian Film Directors (2007):  This tome of 468 pages is a grand collection of articles on Canadian directors written by various scholars. Published in 2007 it captures the importance of the film director to Canadian cinema, especially that of auteurs. The directors discussed reads like a “who’s who” of the film scene in both Quebec and English Canada. The book was published by the University of Alberta Press and is available from the publisher. http://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/52-9780888644794-great-canadian-film-directors  

Elegy for a Poem Garden (2006):  was my second book of poems. The title refers to a poem garden that I began creating on Pender Island, British Columbia. I wrote fragments, incantations, and dedications on wood that I then installed on a small parcel of land in places where the poem only made sense in a specific context. I was mindful of bits and pieces of poetry remaining from the ancient period. I was also inspired by the poem garden created by Ian Hamilton Findlay in Scotland, which I had visited in the company of the poet Stephen Scobie in 1999. The book was published by Ekstasis Editions of Victoria and had a foreword by the poet Tom Wayman. The book is available from me via my Paypal button. It costs $15 plus $5 postage. Please CONTACT me if you would like it signed.

Beyond Alienation (1993):  This book is my second collection of personal essays. It is very much about western Canadian identity with such essays as “Regionalism and Its Discontents”, “Region and Reaction: The Rise of the Reform Party,” and “Energy Geopolitics: The Rise and Fall of a Ruling Class.” The book is out-of-print but I have a few copies remaining. You can purchase the book via my PAYPAL button for $15 plus $5 postage (Canada), $ 10 (U.S.A.) and $15 (International).

Partners In Enterprise (1989):  This book is a collection of articles on worker co-ops and community economic development. Subtitled “The Worker Ownership Phenomenon”, the book is co-edited with Jack Quarter, who became Canada’s leading authority on socially-based enterprise. The book MAY BE AVAILABLE from Black Rose Books or on the secondary market.

The Urban Prairie (1993):  This book is a companion to an art exhibit of the same name held at the former Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon. I am one of the co-authors. My essay on the Five City States of the West argues for the importance of urban identity to western Canada, a region long time was associated with agrarianism and rural life. The book is illustrated with art from the show. Long out-of-print the book is available through the secondary market and websites selling used books.

Poetics of Naming (2003): This is my one and only book of philosophy. Based on my 1972 M.A. thesis from the University of Toronto, which was written without a single footnote, this text is a re-write after 30 years. I was very much influenced in my style of writing by Heidegger, but I felt I was creating something poetic rather than something philosophical. Although a difficult read it represents the mysticism of language as a metaphor for reality. The book is available from my PAYPAL button for $20 plus $5 postage in Canada, $10 in the U.S. and $15 internationally.  Please CONTACT me if you wish it signed before shipping.

     2007                              2006                                 2004                                    2004                                   2003                                2003                                    2002                                  1999                                   1999                                        

Riel to Reform (1992):  This book has been out-of-print for a long time. It offers a history of protest in western Canada through the writings of prominent historians. It can only be found in libraries and on the secondary market , especially on websites that specialize in used books.

Canada & the New American Empire: War and Anti-War: (2004): This collection of essays on Canada’s response to the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was the second book in the field of Peace Studies that I edited. Its publication led to the creation of the Consortium for Peace Studies at the University of Calgary in 2005. The Consortium lasted until 2015. Among the contributors are Douglas Roche, a long-time writer on peace topics and a former senator; the philosopher Trudy Govier; and Dr. David Swann, the former leader of the Alberta Liberal Party and a long-time MLA. The Afterword is by Mel Hurtig. The book is available from the University of Calgary Press. http://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781552381304  

My Mother is an Alien (2004):  This book was my fourth collection of essays and the first one that dealt specifically with cinema. The subtitle “Ten Takes on Life and Film” indicated that I was writing about the impact a particular film had made on me. Among the films that I discussed were Gandhi, Das Boot, Mon Oncle Antoine and Highway 61. But each essay was more about my life than the film. The book is available from my PAYPAL button. It costs $19 plus $5 postage in Canada, $10 for the U.S. and $15 internationally. Please CONTACT me if you want it signed before I ship it to you.

First Person Plural (2015):  Is a collection of my essays on the visual image and my relationship to those images, including images of my childhood, images of celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Leonard Cohen, and images of writers, filmmakers, and artists that I know. It was published in 2015 and is available in hard copy (227 pages with numerous color and b&w illustrations).  The book is available from the author ($20 plus postage ($5 in Canada, $10 U.S. and $15 International). Click on my PAYPAL button to purchase a copy. Let me know if you want it signed via my CONTACT button. It can also be ordered through your local bookstore from Frontenac House Publishers. http://www.frontenachouse.com  

The Search for Community (1985):  This is one of my better known books. It provides a history and an analysis of various forms of co-operative and communal enterprise and lifestyles. It also provided a utopian version of a co-operative community that would be possible in western Canada. The book has a strong socialist bent and was inspired in part by the worker co-ops of Mondragon in the Basque region of Spain. The book is available from the publisher—Black Rose Books.

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Film and the City (2014):  This is my take on the great Canadian auteur filmmakers from Denys Arcand to Guy Maddin to Deepa Mehta and how the cities they live in have influenced their films. The book explores the filmmaker’s cultural grammars that give texture, meaning, and insight to their films. Among the major ones are nationality, religion, language, sexual orientation, and generation.  Published in 2014 by Athabasca University Press, the book is available in paperback, ebook, mobile and pdf versions from the publisher’s website. http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120232  

Writing Alberta (2017): This is a collection of academic essays on Alberta writing which I co-edited with Donna Coates. It is a sequel to Wild Words (2009) which is the first ever volume of scholarly essays devoted specifically to Alberta literature. The book is available from the University of Calgary Press for $34.95. https://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781552388907 

Canada & September 11 (2002): This is the first Peace Studies-oriented book I co-edited. Twenty different Canadian writers and academics discuss the impact of the destruction of the twin towers in New York in 2001 on Canadian political awareness. There is a multiplicity of perspectives on the event and its meaning for Canadians. The book is available via my PAYPAL button for $20 plus $8 postage in Canada, $12 in the U.S. and $18 internationally.

The North End Revisited (2017): This is the third and expanded edition of photographs of Winnipeg’s fabled North End neighbourhood, where I was raised. The photographs are by my friend John Paskievich and the book contains my essay on them titled “What the Eye Sees, the Heart Feels.” It is published by the University of Manitoba Press and sells for $39.95. https://uofmpress.ca/books/detail/the-north-end-revisited 

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Click to view the entire PDF document —>    http://www.georgemelnyk.com/pdfs/Bladerunner 2049 The MasterSlave Paradigm July 18 2018 revision.pdf    

16 July 2016 No Exit (2016): The Mysterious Worlds of Isaac Ezban   Jean-Paul Sartre was right. There is no exit from the human condition. We are all trapped in a universe not of our own making, until, of course, we create one of our own that lets us escape our daily imprisonment. The young Mexican auteur, Isaac Ezban, escapes the ordinary by taking the world of the body and bit by bit interchanging it with the world of the mind. Our physical world is transformed into an imagined one that in turn becomes embodied. His films blend science fiction with horror and fantasy. This blending puts his work on the road to a distinct identity. CLICK HERE TO VIEW ENTIRE PDF DOCUMENT      CLICK HERE TO VIEW DOCUMENT LINKED ON DIABOLIQUE MAGAZINE WEBSITE

16 October 2016 (PDF Document) Here’s Looking at You:  A Theory of the Self and Its Image In 2015 I published my collection of essays on the Self (First Person Plural). The introduction was only a few thousand words. However, the original introduction was 12,500 words so I have decided to post it on my website in revised form (only 9,600 words) so that the theory of the self and its image will be available as a much fuller statement. Thank you for looking at it. Click on link below to view the full PDF document.  georgemelnyk.com/SELF.pdf  

NO EXIT

12 March 2018 (PDF Document) Looking for Paul Bowles in All the Wrong Places This essay explores how we create an identity for someone we have never met. What is the truth of the identities we confer on them? When using visual and textual sources of information, which is superior? Please click on the link to explore these questions in regard to the American writer Paul Bowles, who spent most of his adult life in Tangier, Morocco. This is a revised and expanded version of the essay on the same topic posted 7 November 2017.

The Latest

10 July 2018 (PDF Document) Blade Runner 2049: The Master-Slave Paradigm Unravels This essay compares the original Blade Runner (1982) with its sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017). It explores the similarities and differences between the two films and it argues that the sequel will not achieve the classic status of its predecessor.

Click here to view the entire Paul Bowles PDF document

Melnyk Blog SIX - Sep 11 - 2017

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FILM FESTIVAL MADNESS 2017 DAY ONE - TIFF From Russia Without Love and From Finland Without a Smile

FILM FESTIVAL MADNESS 2017 DAY EIGHT - TIFF  Secrets of a Happy Film Festival

Melnyk Blog EIGHT - Sep 19 - 2017

FILM FESTIVAL MADNESS 2017 - TIFF The End of TIFF

Melnyk Blog NINE - Sep 26 - 2017

FILM FESTIVAL MADNESS 2017 - Grande Finale or Maybe Not. CIFF - The Final 6 Films

Melnyk Blog SEVEN - Sep 15 - 2017

Melnyk Blog ELEVEN - Oct 27 - 2017 The Democracy Project

Vancouver International Film Festival 2016

Melnyk Blog FIVE - Sep 5 - 2017

Melnyk Blog ONE - Oct 20 - 2016 

Melnyk Blog THREE - Mar 14 - 2017

FILM FESTIVAL MADNESS 2017 - CIFF The Calgary International Film Festival:  The First Four Films

CYBORGS! HERE WE COME.

At the Existential Cafe - Part One by Sarah Bakewell

Blog

Melnyk Blog TEN - Oct 3 - 2017

Yuval Noah Harari 2016 Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Reviewed By George Melnyk

Melnyk Blog FOUR - Sep 1 - 2017

Film Festival Madness: 25 Films in 22 Days - TIFF  Part One: The Warm-Up

Melnyk Blog TWO - Dec 11 - 2016

 The Surrealist Cinema of Alejandro Jodorowsky

12 March 12, 2018 Dead man on the river and thoughts on The Golden Statue from America, Early Stories by Subimal Misra, translated by V. Ramaswamy, Harpers-Collins, 2010. A Review by Howard Davidson Howard Davidson is a long-time friend who has spent time in Kolkata, India during the past decade. He developed courses and taught in the Faculty of Extended Education, University of Manitoba before retiring to Toronto. I am pleased to welcome him as my first guest blogger.

To view the entire Howard Davidson PDF file click here

Guest Blog