Saskatchewan Bibliography
Jump to: Non-Fiction | Arts
& Literature
(Almost all the bibliography titles are held by the University
of Saskatchewan Library.)
Nonfiction
Bradley, Maureen. Tainted: Christopher Lefler and the Queer Censorship
Chill.
This is a 28 minute artist's tape that examines the community response to the controversy
aroused by Lefler's attempts to out a prominent Saskatchewan official during 1993 and 1994.
Carpenter, David. “The Devine Comedy.” NeWest Review,
v. 14 no. 1 (Oct./Nov. 1988) p. 7-8.
Community Building [video recording] Written, produced and directed
by Glen Wood. Regina, Viddy Well Films, 1999.
Members of the Gay and Lesbian Community of Regina are shown working to build the
new community building that opened on Broad Street in 1999. Includes interviews examining
27 years of the organization’s history and scenes from construction and fundraising
parties.
Chapman, Terry. “’An Oscar Wilde Type’: The Abominable
Crime of Buggery in Western Canada, 1890-1920.” Criminal Justice History,
v. 4 (1983) p. 97-118.
Examines social and legal attitudes toward homosexuality in Saskatchewan, Alberta,
and British Columbia from 1890 to 1920. Western Canadians identified homosexuals as sinful,
immoral, and perverse, especially following the sensational trials of Oscar Wilde.
Chapman, Terry. “Male Homosexuality: Legal Restraints and Social
Attitudes in Western Canada, 1890 - 1920.” in Law and Justice in a New Land: Essays
in Western Canadian Legal History. Ed. Louis A Knafla. Toronto: Carswell, 1986. p. 267
- 292.
Dick, Lyle. “Heterohegemonic Discourse and Homosexual Acts: The
Case of Saskatchewan in the Settlement Era.” Paper presented at the Sex and the State
History Conference, Toronto, July 1985.
Dick, Lyle. “Male Homosexuality in Saskatchewan's Settlement Era:
the 1895 Case of Regina's 'Oscar Wilde.'” Histoire sociale / Social History, No. 83
(May 2009), pp. 107-45.
Doug Wilson [film vignette] in 100 Saskatchewan
Stories. Produced and
directed by Jarrett Rusnak. Regina: Dacian Productions, 2005.
Erlandson, Cheryl Ann. Safe Schools: Breaking the
Silence on Sexual Difference.
Saskatooon: Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, 2002.
Faces of Diversity [video recording]. Produced and directed by
Heather Kuttai. Saskatoon: Disability Services for Students, U of S, 2001.
Students of different races, cultures, and sexual orientations, and students with
both visible and invisible handicaps, discuss their experiences and the misconceptions they
face at university.
Fraser, Keath. As for Me and My Body: A Memoir of Sinclair Ross.
Toronto: ECW Press, 1997.
Fraser offers a queer reading of the Saskatchewan classic novel As for Me and
My House (1941) and other writings by the homosexual novelist Sinclair Ross.
Funk, Wes. Wes Side Story: A Memoir.
Regina: Your Nickel's Worth Publishing, 2014.
Shortly before his early death in 2015 FUnk moved beyond his focus on autobiographical fiction to produce Wes Side Story, a memoir of his life as a gay man in rural Saskatchewan and in Saskatoon with unflinching honesty.
Graham, Jim. Pressing: Reading the Signs. Saskatoon: AKA Gallery,
1989.
Catalogue from an exhibition by artist Dik (later Duncan) Campbell.
Grubisic, Brett J, and Young, Brian. “Fear and Loathing on the Prairie.” Fuse
Magazine, v. 17 no. 3 (1994) p. 9-10.
Concerns the controversy aroused when University of Saskatchewan art student Christopher
Lefler attempted to out a prominent Saskatchewan official in an art installation piece.
Korfman, Geoffrey. The Wilde West: Homosexual Behavior in the Court Records of Saskatchewan, 1895-1930. M.A. Thesis - Trent University, 2007.
Korinek, Valerie. Prairie Fairies. A History of Queer Communities and People in Western Canada, 1930-1985 .
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018.
Korinek historicizes LGBTQ people and communities in the three prairie provinces, helping to correct the imbalance that has long ignored developments outside Canada’s major cities.
Korinek, Valerie J. “Activism = Public Education: The History of
Public Discourses of Homosexuality in Saskatchewan, 1971 - 93.” in I Could Not
Speak My Heart: Education and Social Justice for Gay and Lesbian Youth. Ed. James McNinch
and Mary Cronin. Regina: University of Regina, Canadian Plains Research Center, 2004. p.109
- 137.
Korinek, Valerie J.“A Queer-Eye View of the Prairies: Reorienting Western Canadian Histories.” In The West and Beyond: New Perspectives on an Imagined Region. Ed. Alvin Finkel and Sarah Carter and Peter Fortna. Edmonton: AU Press, 2010. p. 278-296.
Korinek traces the efforts of several prairie gays and lesbians to carve out a space for themselves, including Norman Dahl, born 1928 in Birch Hills, SK and the couple of Lilja Stefansson and Evelyn Rogers who began their relationship in Rouleau, SK in 1959.
Korinek, Valerie J. "Gay and Lesbian Activism." Encyclopedia
of Saskatchewan. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 2005.
Korinek, Valerie J. “’The Most Openly Gay Person for at Least
a Thousand Miles’: Doug Wilson and the Politicization of a Province, 1975 - 1983.” Canadian
Historical Review, v. 84 no. 4 (December 2003). p. 517-550.
Korinek, Valerie J. "Wilson, Douglas." Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan.
Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 2005.
MacFarlane, Glenda. “A Lesson from Beechy: Censorship Begins at
Home.” NeWest Review, v. 18 no. 4 (April/May 1993) p. 33-34.
Attempts to perform a school play about a gay teenager in rural Saskatchewan engendered
great opposition.
McNinch, James (Ed). I Could Not Speak My Heart: Education and Social
Justice for Gay and Lesbian Youth. Regina: University of Regina, Canadian Plains Research
Center, 2004.
Millard, Peter. “Breaking the Silence: Silence is Essential in Maintaining
Homophobia. That’s Why Gays are Breaking the Silence in the School System.” Briarpatch,
v. 29 no.6 (July/Aug. 2000) p. 6-8.
Concerns the annual Breaking the Silence Conference hosted by the University of Saskatchewan
College of Education to examine lesbian/gay issues in the schools.
Millard, Peter. “Human Rights and the P.C. Government.” in Devine
Rule in Saskatchewan:
A Decade of Hope and Hardship. Ed. Lesley Biggs and Mark Stobbe. Saskatoon: Fifth House,
1991. p. 33-48.
Montour, Courtney; Director Sex, Spirit, Strength: A Documentary about Reclaiming Healthy Sexuality. Montreal: Mohawk Princess Pictures, 2015 Sex Spirit Strength follows Michael and Jack, two young Indigenous men, as they shed the stigma and shame associated with their sexual health and gender identity. Michael, a former addict who lived a high-risk lifestyle in Regina’s North Central, hopes his activism work will discourage other young people from going down the same path. Jack, a transgender gay man, is committed to bringing pride back to two-spirit identity through education and activism. Winner of the 2016 Golden Sheaf Award representing the best work at the Yorkton Film Festival. .
Norberg, Andrea. The Coming Out Project. Coming Out Publications, 2012
An introduction to a diverse group of 12 LGBT Regina residents, focusing principally on their experiences coming out to themselves and their friends and families.
OutSaskatoon. OutSaskatoon’s Rainbow Family Series. Saskatoon: OutSaskatoon, 2016.
A series of four illustrated booklets dealing with the sexual and gender diversity of local families. With texts by Brent Beatty, Natasha King, Helen Thunderchild and Melody Wood and photography by Priscila Silva.
Philips, Elizabeth. “Evergon but Not Forgotten.” NeWest
Review, v. 15 no.5 (June/July 1990) p. 5-6.
A controversy erupted in late 1989 at Saskatoon’s Mendel Gallery over the display
of homoerotic photographs by a celebrated Canadian artist.
Queen City. [video production] Produced, directed and edited
by David Geiss. Regina: David Geiss, 2006.
Inside a dark bar on a busy Regina street exists a community that
is outrageous, loud, flamboyant, and entertaining. But why do grown men and women dress up
in flashy costumes and lip synch songs to an audience night after night? This forty-five
minute documentary examines the world of Saskatchewan drag queens.
Ready to Get Married. [video production]
This film by Gemini award winner Anand Ramayya followed Saskatoon couple Julie
Richards and Nicole White as they fought to have their relationship recognized by their families and governments. It was part of a documentary
series The
New Face of Multiculturalism produced in 2005 by the Saskatchewan Intercultural Council and Kahani Entertainment Inc.
Richards, Neil. Celebrating a History of Diversity: Lesbian and Gay Life in Saskatchewan, 1971 - 2006. A Selected Annotated Chronology, Saskatoon: Avenue Community Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity,
2005.
Richards, Neil. "Millard, Peter." Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan.
Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 2005.
Richards, Neil and Korinek, Valerie. “Out of the Closet and Onto the Shelves: the Neil Richards Fonds.” Saskatchewan History, v. 69 no. 1 (Winter 2017-2018) p. 18-29.
A “Words and Pictures” feature celebrating the Public Archives of Saskatchewan acquisition of LGBTQ2 collections and their use.
Russell, Jim. “A Gaze Blank and Pitiless as the Sun.” Fuse
Magazine, v. 18 no.2 (1994) p. 7-10.
Concerns the response of the Saskatchewan government and the Saskatchewan Arts Board
to a grant made to U of S student Christopher Lefler who used ‘outing’ in his
installation art.
Saskatchewan Gay Coalition. Lesbians and Gay Men: A Minority Without
Rights.
(A brief submitted to the Saskatchewan Legislature. 1978).
Saskatoon Council on Aging. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Older Adults and Congregate Housing Environments. Final Report Saskatoon, 2016
Sexual Orientation. Special issue of Briarpatch (Saskatchewan’s
independent newsmagazine) v. 18 no. 8 (October 1989).
Includes contributions by Joanne Abrahamson, Glen Brown, Shauna Checkley, Gens Hellquist,
Peter Millard, Doug Wilson and Ralph Wushke.
Spence, Alex. Gay on the Canadian Prairie: Twenty Years of Perceptions,
1983-2002.
Saskatoon: Perceptions Publications, 2003.
Spence, Alex. Perceptions: The First Twenty-Two Years, 1983-2004:
An Index to the Canadian Gay & Lesbian Newsmagazine. Saskatoon: Perceptions Publications,
2005.
Stubblejumper.[video production] Produced, written, directed and edited by David Geiss. Regina: da vid Films, 2009.
In the fall of 1975, at the University of Saskatchewan, Doug Wilson placed an add in the student newspaper, seeking to start a campus gay group. This action served as the catalyst for a dramatic unfolding of events, shaping the future of Wilson's life. This biographical docudrama is a tale of activism, poetry, politics and love.
Wagner, Cindy Lou. Jason. Christopher Lake, Sask: The Author, 2006.
A Saskatchewan family relate their experiences,
thoughts and emotions raising and accepting a gay son.
Wickenhauser, Joseph. Surprisingly Unexpected. LGBT Activisim in Moose Jaw (1978-Present). Montreal: The Author, 2012.
A 16 page zine celebrating the lives and activism of LGBT people by exploring archival traces. The zine emphasizes the need for the preservation of historical documents and records relating to LGBT experience and explains how the Saskatchewan Archives Board acquires and presents donations of material from groups and individuals.
Wickenhauser, Joseph. Surprisingly Unexpected: Moose Jaw, Metronormativity and LGBTQ Activism. M. A. Thesis - York University, 2012
Arts and Literature
Baker, Brenda. The Maleness of God. (Short stories) Regina:
Coteau Books, 1999.
In the title story a Christian mother comes to realize that she loves her gay son
more than she loves her husband and his vengeful God.
Bidulka, Anthony. Amuse
Bouche: a Russell Quant Mystery. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2003.
Russell Quant, Saskatoon’s first and only gay gumshoe sleuths his way from
Paris to Pike Lake with eventful stops at Innovation Place and the 8th Street DQ.
Bidulka, Anthony. Flight
of Aquavit. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2004.
Winner of the 2004 Lambda literary award for best men's mystery.
Detective Russell Quant is back facing a series of personal threats in Saskatoon.
Bidulka, Anthony. Tapas
on the Ramblas. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2005.
2005 Saskatchewan Book Award finalist for Fiction.
This third Russell Quant mystery takes the Saskatoon detective to
Barcelona, Tunisia and Italy.
Bidulka,
Anthony. Stain of the Berry. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2006.
Everyone has their Boogeyman. But who- or what is scaring Saskatoon locals to death?
In this fourth Russell Quant mystery the gay PI tries to uncover the real cause of death
in a suspected suicide.
Bidulka, Anthony. Sundowner Ubuntu. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2007.
Russell travels to Southern Africa to locate a lost gay son sought by a Saskatoon mother.
Bidulka, Anthony. Aloha Candy Hearts. Toronto: Insomniac Press, 2009.
In the sixth Russell Quant mystery, gay PI Quant balances the demands of a wedding and a memorial while investigating a shocking Saskatoon murder.
Bidulka, Anthony. Date With a Sheesha. London, Ontario: Insomniac Press, 2010.
From the glitzy, flamboyant, mega-high rises of Dubai, to the frankincense fields of Oman and scorching sand dunes of Saudi Arabia, PI Russell Quant is on one heckuva magical carpet ride; one that skids to a deadly halt on the frozen surface of a Saskatchewan pond.
Bidulka, Anthony. Dos Equis. London, Ontario: Insomniac Press, 2012.
Things are finally looking up for Saskatoon gay PI Russell Quant. A call for help from an old adversary gives Russell a new purpose in life, and he faces the future with a spring in his step and new highlights in his hair.
Bowen, Gail. Deadly Appearances. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre,
1990.
Murder wrecks havoc in the Queen City. Regina sleuth Joanne Kilbourn delves into
the killing of her friend the newly elected provincial opposition leader Andy Boychuk and
uncovers some queer truths about political lives.
Bowen, Gail. The Endless Knot. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2006.
In the 10th Joanne Kilbourn mystery a furious
father faces charges in Regina after attacking a journalist who has exposed his transsexual child in a sensational book spotlighting the children of
prominent Canadians.
Braun, Jan Guenther. Somewhere Else. Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring, 2008.
Jesse is sixteen and in an impossible situation - being the lesbian daughter of the president of a Mennonite college. Braun once lived on a farm near Osler, Saskatchewan.
Carpenter, David. Jewels. Erin, Ont.: Porcupine’s Quill,
1985.
This novella alternating between a snowbound Saskatoon and a sumptuous Victoria relates
the strange adventures of Julian Fairfax, an aging and closeted gay librarian. Julian’s
soul is slowly turning grey until a friend asks for his help and he joins a bizarre world
of smugglers.
Carpenter, David. Mallow's Course. Saskatoon: aemworks, 2013. 100 handmade copies produced for Happy Leopard Chapbooks.
Perhaps due to her sadder and wiser demeanor, graduate student Jane is seen and used as a roving counsellor by the band of apparently star-crossed asexuals who comprise her study group at a campus in the 1960s.
Funk, Wes. Baggage. Regina: Benchmark Press, 2010.
Based in part on his own experiences, Baggage follows the attempts of Sam, a shy and gay nineteen-year-old farm kid to make a new life for himself in Saskatoon. Landing a job at a downtown diner he meets Slash, the restaurant’s gruff, middle-aged cook and Bliss, a troubled waitress.
Funk, Wes. Cherry Blossoms. Regina: Your Nickel's Worth Publishing, 2012.
"Too many regional authors think that prairie writing means long-winded stories about grain elevators. Not Funk - his rebel spirit makes him the epitome of the modern Saskatchewan author. His writing is easy, funny, unpretentious and best of all honest." - Craig Silliphant
Funk, Wes. Dead Rock Stars: Time Doesn’t Heal All Wounds. Sometimes It Takes Something More. [Regina, SK]: Backwoods Press, 2008.
This personalized fictional story teases us with anecdotes about growing up as a gay pop-culture-infatuated youth in a small Saskatchewan town. Actually, it's about leaving the town behind, then being forced to face it when you're a 40-year-old owner of a record shop and your father dies.
Funk, Wes. Wes Side Story: A Memoir. [Regina, SK]: Your Nickel's Worth Publishing, 2014.
With his usual prairie-boy wit and brutal honesty, Funk finally tells his real life story in a brave and unflinching memoir. Amidst the fun, there are poignant and painful moments of coming of age, coming out and coming undone
Gale, Patrick. A Place Called Winter London: Tinder Press, 2015.
British novelist Gale account of a timid and passive Edwardian married man who leaves his home in England under the cloud of homosexual scandal and finds a challenging and ultimately freer emotional life homesteading in rural Saskatchewan.
Goobie, Beth. Hello Groin. Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2006.
16 year old Dylan Kowolski struggles with issues of sexuality and identity in her Saskatoon high school. She's suspected for a long time that she might be a lesbian, and when word gets out that she and her boyfriend, and when word gets out that she and her boyfriend are not having sex, the peer pressure because intense.
Gordon, Alison. Prairie Hardball. Toronto: McCelland & Stewart, 1997.
Toronto sportswriter Kate Henry travels to Battleford, SK where her mother is to be inducted into a local sports hall of fame for her participation in the professional women's baseball teams that were featured in the movie A League of Their Own. When one of the stars of the former Racine Belles is strangled, Kate joins the investigation.
Horlick, Leah. For Your Own Good. Halfmoon Bay, BC: Caitlin Press, 2015.
Originally from Saskatoon, Horlick now lives in Vancouver. In 2016 Horlick won the 10th annual Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writers administerd by the Writers’ Trust of Canada. This award is presented to writers who identify as LGBT and whose work demonstrates great potential. The poems in For Your Own Good explore the narrator’s complex experience as a survivor of sexual and domestic abuse in a relationship with another woman.
Horlick, Leah. Riot Lung. Saskatoon: Thistledown Press, 2012.
“Like the poet herself, this little book is eloquent and smooth as tales are told of coming of age and coming out. Both Leah's Jewish roots and lesbian pride shine powerfully through in her work, telling tales of girl-crushes and teen heartbreaks in visual, comical ways.” – Wes Funk
Horlick, Leah. wreckoning / words by Leah Horlick, art and design by Alison Ruth Cooley. Saskatoon: JackPine Press, 2010.
Lapointe, Annette. Stolen. Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2006.
Protagonist Rowan Friesen has made a career of drug-dealing and smalltime thievery
on the outer edges of Saskatoon. Lapointe's lean, tight narrative is a tale of theft, love
and madness on the Canadian prairie which moves along like a V-8 pickup bouncing over dirt
roads.
Logan, Zachari. Zachari Logan with a forward by Edward Lucie-Smith. Vernon, B.C.: Rich Fog Micro Publishing, 2012.
Logan is a Saskatoon based visual artist and writer. The focus for his visual work deals with stereotypical representations of masculinity in relation to contemporary society and queerness. This book depicts much of his work from 2005 to the present.
McGehee, Peter. The Fabulous Sirs (Music and lyrics by Peter
McGehee / additional material by Fiji Champagne Robinson.) Toronto: [Fabulous Sirs], 1988. To hear two songs from The Fabulous Sirs click here.
McIntyre, David L.
Watershed Stories as Sung by the Prairie Pride
Chorus. Regina: Prairie Pride Chorus, 2006.
The composer conducts Regina's LGBT community chorus in the cycle of sixteen songs
he wrote based upon the life experiences of the choir members. This signature piece has
been performed many times across Saskatchewan and at festivals in Toronto and Vancouver. To hear a song from Watershed Stories click here.
Paulson, J.C.
Adam’s Witness. Saskatoon: Self-published, 2017.
Well known journalist Joanne Paulson has added fiction to her resume with a mystery cum romance novel set in Saskatoon. A Star Phoenix reporter discovers the dead body of Saskatoon’s Catholic bishop at his cathedral altar just a few hours after the church has cancelled the rental of its facility for a concert by the local Pride chorus. An entertaining look at gay life and homophobia in the Bridge City.
Philips, Elizabeth.
Torch River. London, Ontario: Brick Books, 2007.
2008 Golden Crown Literary Award winner for Lesbian Poetry. Also nominated for 2008 Lambda Literary Award.
Roberta, Jean. Secrets of the Invisible World: Lesbian Short Stories.
Montreal: Lilith Publications, 1988.
Regina writer Jean Hillabold investigates the loves and friendships, desires and
fears of lesbian women.
Ross, Sinclair. Sawbones Memorial. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,
1974.
The population of Upward, a small prairie town, gathers to mark the retirement of
their longtime physician. Providing the piano music is the town queer Benny Fox, whose experiences
and attitudes are said by one critic to resemble those of Ross, Saskatchewan’s most
acclaimed novelist.
Sperling, Shoshana. Finding Regina. (Play) Winnipeg: J. Gordon
Shillingford, 2002.
The attempted suicide of a gay man brings three old friends to the ICU of a Regina
hospital.
A night of laughter, confessions and revelations of painful long-concealed truths ensues.
Wieler, Diana J. Bad Boy. New York: Delacorte Press, 1992.
16 year old A.J. becomes the bad boy of the Triple-A Moose Jaw Cyclones when he discovers
that his best friend and teammate is gay. This YA novel about hockey violence and teenage
friendship won a Governor General’s award for children’s fiction.
(page last updated on: 04-December-2017)
