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With seven books of poetry to his credit, Rienzi Crusz presents an interesting touchstone for the real feelings of Canadian writers towards those whom we label 'multicultural' or 'ethnic' but who, to take only such prominent examples as Rohinton Mistry or M.G. Vassanji, are playing an ever more important role in new Canadian literature.
Growing up devoutly Catholic in Sri Lanka, a country that is predominantly Buddhist and Hindu; educated in English schools and coming from the same 'Burgher' section of society as Michael Ondaatje, thus ethnically too in a minority; and motivated as much by personal as by political reasons, Crusz came to Canada in 1965. It is, then, one of the services of Chelva Kanaganayakam, himself originally from Sri Lanka, to make clear the richness and the complexities of the traditions that Crusz was drawing upon even before he emigrated to Canada.
Once here,...