Stan Persky
Stan Persky taught philosophy at Capilano University in N. Vancouver, B.C. He received the 2010 B.C. Lieutenant-Governor's Award for Literary Excellence. His most recent books are Reading the 21st Century: Books of the Decade, 2000-2009 (McGill-Queen's, 2011), Post-Communist Stories: About Cities, Politics, Desires (Cormorant, 2014), and Letter from Berlin: Essays 2015-2016 (Dooney's, 2017).
Faith-based Voting
Praise the Lord! And pass the ammunition. What’s behind W’s born-again re-election?
Angkor Wat
Where the middle of nowhere turns out to be the centre of everywhere. Tales of a timid time traveller.
True Patriot, er, Fondness: some Oh Canada notes
The Thanksgiving turkeys and Tums have been digested. Time for some seasonal musings on an unusual nation.
Letter from Berlin: CanLit Comes to Town
What does it feel like to go to a literary reading where the reader outnumbers the audience? Welcome to the Berlin Literature Festival. A report on Art-Torture.
Letter from Berlin: Seeing Nazis Everywhere
The Globe says Germany is "agonizing over neo-Nazis’ resurgence." Is it agonizing? And are neo-Nazis resurging? Stan Persky reports on whether Germany is seeing Nazis or the media are seeing ghosts.
Through the Eyes of Mr. Palomar
Some thoughts on Italo Calvino, from a forthcoming book of memoir/travel/essays.
Brautigan, Buchenwald, Budapest/Bucharest
Passages from a forthcoming book of memory and premonition.
Days of Social Democracy: A Memoir
In the 1970s, Dave Barrett became the first social democratic premier of British Columbia. Stan Persky remembers why it mattered.
On Czeslaw Milosz
The poet Czeslaw Milosz died last week in Krakow, Poland, at age 93. Stan Persky has a couple of thoughts.
Letter from Berlin: The Scary Season
The press thinks it’s The Silly Season. But in Germany it’s The Scary Season.