Mark is a winner of Canada’s National Newspaper Award and a double recipient of the Mark Harrison Prize for excellence in journalism. On this page you’ll find links to some of his writing, and also to some interviews with him.
The Walrus
A 2022 piece on Duncan Campbell Scott, Stephen Leacock, and the difficulties of reading and teaching literary work by people whose ideas or actions are now considered unacceptable:
The Walrus also published Mark’s 2021 article about the Field Notes nonfiction series of Biblioasis Press:
https://thewalrus.ca/the-new-pamphleteers-why-one-publisher-is-betting-on-short-books-with-big-ideas/
A long-form feature on language issues in Canada, published in the June 2018 issue of The Walrus as the O’Hagan Annual Essay in Public Affairs:
https://thewalrus.ca/beyond-bilingualism
Mark’s heartfelt obituary for Leonard Cohen:
https://thewalrus.ca/try-to-say-the-grace
For his wry and surprising look at Jack Kerouac as a French-Canadian writer manqué: http://thewalrus.ca/jean-louis-kerouac
Mark’s article about the extraordinary manuscripts and ancient books in the library of Notre Dame College, located in the minuscule town of Wilcox, Saskatchewan:
http://thewalrus.ca/the-wilcox-manuscripts/.php”>
Interviews with Mark
CTV Montreal’s Mutsumi Takahashi interviewed Mark in February 2023 about Strange Bewildering Time: montreal.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2632118
On March 24, 2019 — the day on which Mark’s father, Harry Abley, would have turned 102 — “The Sunday Edition,” one of CBC Radio’s flagship programs, aired Mark’s chat with Michael Enright. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-for-march-24-2019-1.5066100/mark-abley-s-memoir-is-a-tender-portrait-of-a-difficult-father-son-relationship-1.5066108
A feature interview, conducted in 2015 by poet and editor Carmine Starnino, concentrating on Mark’s work as a poet:
http://www.partisanmagazine.com/blog/2015/4/20/breeding-dogs-in-order-to-keep-cats
A 2014 interview with CBC Radio’s inimitable Shelagh Rogers, focusing on Mark’s creative nonfiction book Conversations with a Dead Man: The Legacy of Duncan Campbell Scott: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/shelagh-s-extended-conversation-with-mark-abley-encore-1.2842627
An hour-long conversation with Nigel Beale, host of the podcast “The Biblio File,” can be found here: https://thebibliofile.ca/webpage/category/mark-abley-on-why-poet-duncan-campbell-scotts-reputation-is-in-tatters-0 — It too concentrates on Conversations with a Dead Man.
A 2013 interview with Mark, in which he talks to The Malahat Review about creative non-fiction, literary contests, and his favourite childhood book: http://malahatreview.ca/interviews/mark_abley_interview.html
Other Writing
For many years Mark wrote a column about words and language in the Montreal Gazette. To read a few of his columns and other writings, go to: http://montrealgazette.com/author/mark-abley-special-to-the-montreal-gazette
In the Times Literary Supplement, Mark reviewed a new book by Michael Engelhard entitled Ice Bear: The Cultural History of an Arctic Icon:
https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/cultural-critter/
A paywalled essay for The Globe and Mail about depression and the arts: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-the-organist-is-a-memoir-that-probes-the-intimate-relationship-between/
To read Mark’s take on Quebec City as written for a largely British audience: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/09/canada.quebec
Mark’s feature article about the death of Marie Smith Jones, the last native speaker of the Eyak language, also appeared in The Guardian. www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/28/usa.features11
