Susan Glickman – författare

Glickman argues that early immigrants to Canada brought with them the expectation that nature would be grand, mysterious, awesome - even terrifying - and welcomed scenes that conformed to these notions of sublimity. She contends that to interpret their descriptions of nature as "negative," as so many critics have done, is a significant misunderstanding. Glickman provides close readings of several important works, including Susanna Moodie''s "Enthusiasm," Charles G.D. Roberts''s Ave, and Paulette Jiles''s "Song to the Rising Sun," and explores the poems in the context of theories of nature and art. Instead of projecting backward from a modernist perspective, Glickman reads forward from the discovery of landscape as a legitimate artistic subject in seventeenth-century England and argues that picturesque modes of description, and a sublime aesthetic, have governed much of the representation of nature in this country.

Winner, Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Jewish Book Award for FictionSet in Jewish London in the 1930s, Susan Glickman’s The Violin Lover is written against the backdrop of Hitler’s escalating campaign against the Jews. This beautifully written novel tells the story of Clara Weiss and Ned Abraham, “the violin lover,” brought together by Clara’s 11-year-old son, Jacob. A successful doctor and amateur violinist, Ned is pressured to practice a duet with Jacob by the boy’s piano teacher. Though reluctant at first, Ned is charmed by the young prodigy and surprised by Jacob’s dedication and passion for music. In him Ned sees his younger self, so young and full of promise. A friendship is soon built on a mutual love for music. A dinner invitation to spend Passover with the Weiss family seals Ned’s fate and a clandestine love affair begins. Although they both agree that no one must ever know — especially not Clara’s family — their affair inevitably comes to a crashing end, with disastrous, life-altering consequences.Unfolding like a melody, The Violin Lover is infused with music and told in three voices. It is a powerful novel about the love one feels for family, friends, culture, faith and music, and the passion that comes with it — regardless of the outcome.