There hasn’t been a voice on the Canadian scene that represents me and my generation. Wait, let me rephrase that. There hasn’t been a voice on the Canadian scene people are paying attention to that represents me and my generation.

In the late nineties, something happened in American literature. Dave Eggers, Chuck Klosterman, and others–tech-savvy, slacker-types who remember Puck from MTV and when NKTOB were cool–started to get attention. Chick lit exploded and hip girls like Marisha Pessl and Lauren Weisenberger got six figure advances. Graphic novels are becoming mainstream. Youth, for once, was dictating the direction of publishing. These writers had impressive print-runs, vast fan-bases and a voice people listen(ed) to.

Canada doesn’t have that yet. The closest writer I can think of is Douglas Coupland, but he’s been around for over twenty years.

This is why it bothered me when I opened Quill & Quire‘s latest issue–the one celebrating “the most influential, innovative and just plain powerful people in Canadian publishing”–and found that not only were there very few writers, the writers chosen were tried-and-true power players.

There were plenty of bright spots–Chris Olivero, Nicole Rycroft, and Brian Lam are just a few inspiring people–but the list felt overwhelming business-oriented and old.

Maybe the Canadian landscape isn’t encouraging and facilitating young, outspoken, original Canadian writers. While I seriously doubt this (Ellen Page, Sarah Polley and Jason Reitman are all examples of young innovation in Canadian creative industries), I cannot help but think that it’s not the lack of innovation Canadians, but the lack of innovation in an industry that celebrates the tried-and-true, the giants and the dinosaurs.

These people are important. They are shaping the industry. I respect them greatly. I’m not saying we shouldn’t celebrate the past. But in an industry struggling as much as publishing, we should be looking to the future with just as much enthusiasm.

I’m sure they are out there. Why aren’t they getting heard?

Image via Quill and Quire