Joseph Boyden

Today I met the man who helped determine that I would become an English Lit Major with a North American focus. A little obscurely, yes. But he did, nonetheless. It was his book, Three Day Road, which helped give me the Canadian Literature content needed to put me into a different category, and as such, put me in a class of my own, literally. I convocated at the top of my class - turns out I was the only one in it! The Dean's List proved I belonged there, but it was a bit strange when reading through the lists of graduates in June and finding a little * by my name indicating I was at the top of my class... only to read through every single name to figure out that I was the only one who actually declared their English Major to thave this obscure North American focus.

I took this Canadian Lit class back in 2006, less than a year after Three Day Road came out, while at Langara College in Vancouver. When I applied to the University of the Fraser Valley (then the University College of the Fraser Valley) they wanted my credit to transfer as a Canadian Drama course. Which it wasn't. So I fought the decision and sent in my marks and the class syllabus which had Boyden's novel listed. It is not a dramatic work, but a novel. It was his book that tipped the judges' decision, and allowed my course to be given Canadian Lit status rather than Canadian Drama status, and that Canadian Lit status is what changed my English Lit Major to an English Lit Major with a North American focus, which in turn put me in a class of my own... and the rest is history.

So, I went to UFV tonight and listened to Joseph Boyden read the first chapter from both Three Day Road and his newest novel, Through Black Spruce, and then had him sign them afterwards. It was a great evening -- had that "I've gone full circle" feeling to it.

His comments are a tad silly - before signing Three Day Road he asked how my name is spelled, and I replied, "The traditional way." When asked how much of Through Black Spruce I've read, I said, "I'm in the middle of my practicum and my bedtime reading has been a snippet here and there, due to exhaustion, so I'm only at chapter 4..."

His comments are below: