Best Canadian Essays 2024

by Marcello Di Cintio (editor)

Selected by editor Marcello Di Cintio, the 2024 edition of Best Canadian Essays showcases the best Canadian nonfiction writing published in 2022.



Lyndsie Bourgon • Nicole Boyce • Robert Colman • Daniel Allen Cox • Acadia Currah • Sadiqa de Meijer • Gabrielle Drolet • Hamed Esmaeilion • Kate Gies • David Huebert • Jenny Hwang • Fiona Tinwei Lam • Kyo Maclear • Sandy Pool

158 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 14, 2023

About the author

Marcello Di Cintio traveled to West Africa in 1997. He taught biology in a Ghanaian village for three months, then traveled through western and northern Africa for nine months more. Di Cintio’s time in Africa resulted in his first published stories and, eventually, his first book, Harmattan: Wind Across West Africa.

In 2003 and 2004, Di Cintio traveled to Iran to discover the connection between Persian poets and traditional wrestlers. Knopf Canada published the resulting book, Poets and Pahlevans: A Journey Into the Heart of Iran, in 2006.

In February 2008, Di Cintio flew into the Algerian desert to begin nearly five years of travel and research for Walls: Travels Along the Barricades chronicles Di Cintio's journeys along some of the world's most disputed and unfriendly edges. The book tries to answer the question: What does it mean to live in the shadow of a wall?

Di Cintio's 4th book, Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense, reveals life in contemporary Palestine as seen through the lens of the region's rich literary culture.

Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers will appear in May 2021. This book will reveal the fascinating backstories of the men and women who drive us around.

Reviews

[Kristi Kasper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this essay collection in my favourite obscure little section of the bookstore - arts & letters. A compilation of great Canadian essays?! Totally my thing! Ranging in topic from peacocks to the residential moving business these pieces covered a lot of ground and they were all compelling in their own way. I am not sure I would have found each of these on my own so this compilation was much appreciated!

[Leanne Shirtliffe]

My thoughts in 5-ish words: voices worth reading; thought provoking.

[Dhvani Parekh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection. I enjoy reading such short essays which capture slice-of-life observations very well.

[Lynn Tait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting essays! Lots of variety! Enjoyed 2023 also!

[Earla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book; what a wonderful collection Marcello has selected for us! I like his intro, where he introduces each essay writer and their story.

I loved how moved Marcello is when describing how a story moved him. The humanness that comes out in Hamed Esmaeilion's story with the line, "I smoke now." that one line reminds me why I love essays so much.

My favourite quote in the book...,'To make tiny humans, then, is to populate the world with love.' - David Huebert