The following letters arrived at the Next Chapter's headquarters last month. Thank you to everyone who wrote with comments on the show, and also to all those who suggested books and authors we might cover.

Lions in Winter | January 3rd

As I sit here looking out across the strait listening to our Canadian lions this afternoon, I feel all is well with the world. Farley Mowat's moral compass reminds me of why I chose to become a Canadian way back in the 70's. Alistair McLeod's humility and Gordon Pinsent's humanity remind me that, even those with extraordinary talent and ability, still sound pretty much like the people I know and want to know (as opposed to, say, that huge celebrity machine in other parts of the world that seem to turn gifted people into monsters). Then to top it off as Colm and his son were singing their duet, a ferry from Nanaimo appeared to float towards Tsawassen in time to the music.
Thank you.
Janet Vickers

Just discovered & so enjoyed your show today!
What a marvellous after Christmas gift..
Thank you Shelagh!
Veronica Erdelac

Hi Shelagh: Happy New Year. I see you had hydro problems over the Holidays. We had a simialr experience at my cottage in Parry Sound. Our pipes froze and burst and as I drove into town to get help I caught your terrific show on Literary Lions. I concluded we can live without electricity but not without books, authors and great interviews like the ones on this show. Terrific stuff. All the best for 2009.
Tom Scanlan

It's the first time I hear your show! What a treat: Farley Mowat, Gordon Pinsent! Can't wait to download this podcast! So good to hear your voice Shelagh! Bien amicalement,
Caroline Lafleur

Hi Shelagh and crew--I like the way that all the different authors relate to the main theme of each program. Keep up the good work. Please and thanks.
Shirley

Dear Shelagh:
Congratulations! on the The Lions in Winter, Farley Mowat, Alistair Macloud, and Gordon Pinsent. Farley seems to be in fine form -- he's roaring more loudly than ever before. I wonder, you didn't mention whether he has any current love interest!
Dierdre Mackenzie

Hi, Shelagh!
Thank you for your delightful interview with Farley Mowatt. I, as he, early in life developed an enduring bond with
wilderness, largely as a counterpoint to the human species which seems far too presumptious in presenting itself as a respectable embodiment of this phenomenon we know as "life".
Peter Jonker

I enjoy this series -- and the Mystery in Midwinter episode especially. And, Margaret Cannon provides some of the best, most astute reviews.
Caryl Brandt

I really liked the variety in authors discussed in this mystery genre. I wish the website provided a short synopsis of each book so I could remember which ones I wanted to buy after hearing the reviews.
Beverlee McIntosh

Success and Politics | January 17th

Hello Shelagh,
I chanced to catch your piece on poetry and politics last Saturday. It provoked these thoughts. Poetry is the native tongue of poets, a language they are gifted both to hear and to speak. All human experience can be expressed poetically. Should a poet be inspired (or uninspired) by political events, he or she will speak most eloquently and to the point in his native language.
Respectfully,
Kate Ramsey
Courtenay, BC

Hi,
I tuned in to listen to Malcolm Gladwell on Outliers and I was pretty sure you said that you wanted to hear where people are listening from. Likely I am the only one listening from Lanzhou, Gansu, China as I am generally the only Canadian in the province. I am 3/4 of the way through 2 years with a CIDA project (Livestock Health Extension Services Project). Normally I live in Abbotsford and I am on secondment from the position of Public Health Veterinarian with the Ministry of Agriculture, BC. I am up earlier than usual this Sunday morning due to my new ultimate souvenir, a Chinese Pug puppy. I must admit that usually I am not up early enough to listen.

Crazy I know. I 'read' Outliers through audiobooks iTunes, my best access to english language published works. Interesting to hear his comments, though brief. Best to you as you head into the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year season,
Jane

Hello,

I have only begun to listen to the past episodes over the holidays by podcast, yet I am hooked already and will be a regular listener. I have not listened to all of the episodes yet, but I want to give some feedback before I forget details from what I have heard already:

-- I loved Tom Howell as the Word Nerd on "And Sometimes Y" and I love his segments on this show. Please keep doing them.

-- Although I enjoy shows like "Writers and Company" that feature an interview with an establish author, I am glad that your show is not merely a copy of that format that focuses on the most successful Canadian authors. I enjoyed standing on the Newfoundland coast with Shelagh and Donna Morrissey (I really felt like I was there). It felt like a unique experience and not just another interview taped at a literary festival.

-- I like hearing about or from new authors: they sound enthusiastic in their interview, unlike the bestselling authors who are answering the same questions for the umpteenth time. I especially enjoyed the pairing of veteran ghostwriter Bill Novak with newbie Naomi Lewis. Tom's interview with Kyle Buckley was also interesting, but I don't think that the "Laundromat Essay" will entice many people to read poetry.

Keep up the good work,
Greg Peace

I am wondering what stops you from shilling authors, rather than publishers? It seems to me that there are so many excellent writers who self-publish yet can find no response from the CBC. There was a day, under Robert Weaver, that excellent, unknown, writers could find access to the CBC, and to Canadians, er, like ALICE MUNRO!!!. Now that literature is almost all market-driven on the CBC there is no room for independents, or unknowns. With more and more digital advances writers can podcast and podpublish themselves: look at the work of the most recent Leacock winner! I would love to hear a show on writers like me, who have been writing and self-publishing for decades, yet are treated like untouchables for ignoring the mainstream publishers...
All the best,
George Keith Young
Montreal

Response: Good suggestion, George. And in fact, that winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour visited the Next Chapter studios recently to tell us about his pod-publishing success with The Best Laid Plans; Terry Fallis will be on our February 14th show, when Shelagh looks into literary rejection.

Dear Shelagh,
Love your informative program even though I maynot get to read all the books you talk about. Just a note to ask two things:

1) Could your program be repeated in the evening sometime? I'm usually busy Sat.afternoons. (I don't have an iPod.)

2) Would you mind repeating at the end of an interview the name of the book and author. On Jan 31 I wanted to know who the author was regarding the Newfoundland book, and you told us who you were interviewing, but not the name of the book. I know that you probably said it several times before, but when something just catches your interest, it is so frustrating when you don;t know who is being talked about!
Thank you.
Margaret Taylor

Hi, Im a super avid listener of CBC Radio One and of The Next Chapter. Im an English teacher in farwaway, Japan, Fukuoka Japan. Its actually boring in Japan, the media is terrible and boring and not at all like CBC. Every Sunday, at 5am, The Next Chapter is broadcast on the Internet. Since I usually wake up at 530, in preparation for work, I wake up early to listen to your program. I loved your interview with Debbie Travis, as well as all your other interviews.
Your show is rich. I feel attached to things human and written and Canadian and worldly. Im sure there are lots of Canadians living in other countries who love your show and need the CBC to keep them..alive. If you ever come to Fukuoka, let me show you around.
Thank you.
Lester Browns