Audio Interview: M.G. Vassanji Responds to Attacks on Giller Prize, and his Writing
In a recent conversation Canadian critic, editor and short story writer John Metcalf hauls off with harsh criticisms of both the Giller Prize and two time winner M.G. Vassanji; the former for boosterism and an inability to distinguish between good and bad literature ( for placing two-time winner Alice Munro in the same category as Vassanji), and the latter for being a person who, ‘there’s no question,’ can’t " handle the English language".
I met with Vassanji recently in Montreal at the Blue Met Writers Festival ostensibly to talk about his new Penguin biography of Mordecai Richler (please stay tuned for the audio); but before commencing I asked him to respond to Metcalf’s attacks. Here’s what he had to say:
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