Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach

Geoff Hamilton (Medicine Hat College)

Ed. by Sarah Henzi, Simon Fraser University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.1.5: Indigenous Writing and Culture of North America - Canada.
Vol. editors: Renate Eigenbrod (University of Manitoba), Sarah Henzi (Simon Fraser University), Padraig Kirwan (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Glen Nichols (Mount Allison University), Wendy Roy (University of Saskatchewan), Denis Salter (McGill University), Karis Shearer (University of British Columbia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2000

Places

Canada (Publication/ performance; Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Monkey Beach

(2000), Eden Robinson’s first novel, elaborates on her short story “Queen of the North”, which first appeared in her collection

Traplines

(1996). This coming-of-age narrative is framed as a mystery – two sailors have gone missing in a shipwreck – and is related in a series of non-linear, retrospective episodes centered on the experiences of a young Haisla woman. Robinson, herself a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, informs the novel with traditional mythic elements, including descriptions of the

b’gwus

(“wild man of the woods” [7] or sasquatch), birds who speak Haisla, and tree spirits apprehensible to those with special powers.

The novel

was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and won the…

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956 words

Citation: Hamilton, Geoff. "Monkey Beach". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 July 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38903, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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