John Ralston Saul to present Whelen Lecture

Posted August 25, 1998


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 25, 1998
98-08-08-OTHER

John Ralston Saul to Lecture in Saskatoon

John Ralston Saul, prize-winning, internationally
acclaimed novelist and essayist, will be this year's
Whelen Lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan.

Dr. Saul will give two talks. The first, "Canada: A
Layering of Mythologies" will take place at 7:00 p.m. on
Tuesday, September 22 at the Delta Bessborough Hotel.
The second, "The Future of Canada: A Conversation" will
take place at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23 at
Place Riel Theatre on the U of S campus. Both high
school and university students are especially welcome
to attend the second lecture. Students planning to
attend the morning discussion are encouraged to attend
the first lecture as it will provide background for the
discussion

Saul will explore issues of interest to all Canadians. He
will engage particularly with Canada as the product of
cultural accumulation, with immigration to the Canadian
West as a narrative of replacement or development,
with relations between oral and written culture, with
the physical, cultural and political resurgence of
aboriginal peoples and with the role of ideas and ethics
in public debate.

Saul's many honours include the 1996 Governor General's
Award for best non-fiction book of the year, the
Canadian Booksellers Association's Gordon Montador
Award for the best Canadian non-fiction book on
contemporary social issues published in 1995 and the
prestigious Premio Letterario Internazionale in 1990 in
Italy. Saul was recently named by the French
government as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des
Lettres.

Saul's latest book, Reflections of a Siamese Twin:
Canada at the End of the Twentieth Century (Penguin
Canada 1997), is a groundbreaking reassessment of
Canada at a pivotal movement in the country's history.
Saul dissects the contradictions, delusions and illusions
that have created an often inaccurate Canadian
mythology and challenges the icons and institutions that
we have been taught to revere and cherish.

The Whelen Lecture was established in 1987 through a
bequest from a distinguished alumnus of the University
of Saskatchewan, Dr. Myron Whelen. Its mandate is to
bring internationally-recognized authorities in
disciplines taught at the University to the U of S campus.

The lecture is open to faculty, students, and interested
members of the public, free of charge.


For more information, please contact:

Christine Anderson-Obach or Len Findlay
Extension Division Chair - Steering Committee
University of Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-5530 (306) 966-5506