The Unemployed

Acorn, Milton. The Island Means Minago. Toronto: NC Press, 1975. [Poetry]

---. I’ve Tasted My Blood: Poems 1956-1968. 1969. Toronto: Steel Rail Educational, 1978. [Poetry]

---. More Poems for People. Rev. ed. Toronto: NC Press, 1973. [Poetry]

Alberta Bound.Dir. Peter Campbell and Brian Pollard. NFB, 1984. [Film]

Anonymous. “Relief - the Workers’ Reward.” Davis, The Poetry of the Canadian People, 1900-1950 176. [Poetry]

Baird, Irene. “Sidown, Brothers, Sidown.” Revue de l’Université Laurentienne / Laurentian University Review 9.1 (Nov. 1976): 81-86. [Personal Essay]

---. Waste Heritage. New York: Random, 1939. [Novel]

Basilières, Michel. Black Bird. Toronto: Knopf, 2003. [Novel]

Baxter, Sheila. No Way to Live: Poor Women Speak Out. Vancouver: New Star, 1988. [Oral History]

---. Under the Viaduct: Homeless in Beautiful B.C. Vancouver: New Star, 1991. [Oral History]

Blais, Marie-Claire. Une Saison dans la vie d’Emmanuel. Montréal: Éditions du Jour, 1965. [Novel]

Les Bougon, c’est aussi ça la vie! By François Avard and Jean-François Mercier. Dir. Louis Bolduc. Prod. Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau Aetios. Radio-Canada. 7 Jan. 2004-17 Apr. 2006. [TV]

Braithwaite, Max. The Hungry Thirties, 1930-1940. Toronto: Natural Science of Canada, 1977. [Life Writing]

---. Never Sleep Three in a Bed. New York: Dodd, 1969. [Novel]

Brand, Dionne. No Burden to Carry: Narratives of Black Working Women in Ontario, 1920’s-1950’s.Toronto: Women’s P, 1991. [Oral History]

---. Sans Souci and Other Stories. Stratford, ON: Williams-Wallace, 1988. [Short Story]

---. Thirsty. Toronto: McClelland, 2002. [Novel]

Brault, Jacques. Agonie. Montréal: Boréal, 1985. [Novel]

---. Il n’y a plus de chemin. St. Lambert, QC: Noroît, 1990. [Novel]

Broadfoot, Barry. The Immigrant Years: From Europe to Canada, 1945-1967. Vancouver: Douglas, 1986. [Oral History]

---. Ten Lost Years, 1929-1939: Memories of Canadians Who Survived the Depression. 1973. Don Mills, ON: Paper Jacks, 1975. [Oral History]

Butala, Alice. “A Day in Town.” Voices of Discord: Canadian Short Stories from the 1930s. Ed. Donna Phillips. Toronto: New Hogtown, 1979. 101-7. [Short Story]

Butler, Juan. Cabbagetown Diary: A Documentary. Toronto: Peter Martin, 1970. [Novel]

Cameron, Anne. Kick the Can. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1991. [Novel]

---. The Whole Fam Damily. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour, 1995. [Novel]

---. “The World Is Full of Magic.” Celebrating Canadian Women: Prose and Poetry by and about Women. Ed. Greta Hofmann Nemiroff. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry, 1989. 378-84. [Short Story]

The Case of Charlie Gordon.Dir. Stuart Legg. NFB, 1939. [Film]

Civvie Street.Dir. Roger Cardinal. NFB, 1982. [Film]

Collier, Diana G. The Invisible Women of Washington. Atlanta; Ottawa: Clarity, 1987. [Novel]

Côté, Denis. L’Arrivée des inactifs. Rev. ed. Montréal: La Courte échelle, 1993. [Novel]

---. L’Idole des inactifs. Montréal: La Courte échelle, 1989. [Novel]

---. Nocturnes pour Jessie. Montréal: Québec-Amérique, 1987. [Novel]

---. Le Retour des inactifs. Montréal: La Courte échelle, 1990. [Novel]

---. La Révolte des inactifs. Montréal: La Courte échelle, 1990. [Novel]

Dandelions for Jobs.Dir. Laszlo Barna. NFB, 1987. [Film]

Davis, N. Brian, ed. The Poetry of the Canadian People, 1720-1920: Two Hundred Years of Hard Work. Toronto: NC Press, 1976. [Poetry]

---, ed. The Poetry of the Canadian People, 1900-1950. Toronto: NC Press, 1978. [Poetry]

The Diary of Evelyn Lau. Dir. Sturla Gunnarsson. CBC, 1993. [Film Adaptation of Evelyn Lau’s Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid]

Dohaney, Myrtis T. The Corrigan Women. Charlottetown, PEI: Ragweed; Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1988. [Novel]

Dubé, Marcel. Un Simple Soldat. Montréal: Quinze, 1980. [Play]

---. Zone. Montréal: Leméac, 1968. [Play]

Durkin, Douglas. The Magpie. 1923. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1974. [Novel]

The Emperor’s New Clothes.Dir. Magnus Isacsson. NFB, 1995. [Film]

Fennario, David. Balconville. Vancouver: Talon, 1980. [Play]

Flaherty, Martha. “I Fought to Keep My Hair.” Northern Voices: Inuit Writing in English. Ed. Penny Petrone. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1988. 274-78. [Personal Essay]

For Man Must Work or The End of Work.Dir. Jean-Claude Bürger. NFB, 2000. [Film]

Garner, Hugh. Cabbagetown. Toronto: Ryerson, 1968. [Novel]

Gillis, Tessie. Stories from the Woman from Away. Wreck Cove, NS: Breton, 1996. [Short Story]

Goin’ Down the Road. Dir. Donald Shebib. Chevron Pictures, 1970. [Film]

Grayson, Linda M., and Michael Bliss, eds. The Wretched of Canada:  Letters to R.B. Bennett, 1930-1935. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1971. [Life Writing]

H.E.G. “Capital!” Davis, The Poetry of the Canadian People, 1900-1950 165. [Poetry]

Henry, Ann. Laugh, Baby, Laugh. Toronto: McClelland, 1970. [Novel]

Holmes, Nancy. “Bugs.” Celebrating Canadian Women: Prose and Poetry by and about Women. Ed. Greta Hofmann Nemiroff. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry, 1989. 192-99. [Short Story]

Howard, Victor. “We Were the Salt of the Earth!”: A Narrative of the On-to-Ottawa Trek and the Regina Riot. Regina, SK: Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, 1985. [Oral History]

Huffman, Bert. “Desolation.” Davis, The Poetry of the Canadian People, 1900-1950 169. [Poetry]

Innis, Mary Quayle. “The Gift.” Voices of Discord: Canadian Short Stories from the 1930s. Ed. Donna Phillips. Toronto: New Hogtown, 1979. 143-50. [Short Story]

---. “Holiday.” The Depression in Canadian Literature. Ed. Alice K. Hale and Sheila A. Brooks. Toronto: Macmillan, 1976. 3-8. [Short Story]

---. “The Party.” Voices of Discord: Canadian Short Stories from the 1930s. Ed. Donna Phillips. Toronto: New Hogtown, 1979. 151-57. [Short Story]

---. “Staver.” Voices of Discord: Canadian Short Stories from the 1930s. Ed. Donna Phillips. Toronto: New Hogtown, 1979. 173-81. [Short Story]

Johnston, Wayne. Baltimore’s Mansion: A Memoir. New York: Anchor, 1999. [Life Writing]

The Journey Home.Dir. Marc F. Voizard. NFB, 1989. [Film]

Knight, Phyllis, and Rolf Knight. A Very Ordinary Life. Vancouver: New Star, 1974. [Oral History]

Larocque, Emma. “The Beggar.” Native Poetry in Canada: A Contemporary Anthology. Ed. Jeannette C. Armstrong and Lally Grauer. Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2001. 151. [Poetry]

Lau, Evelyn. Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid.Toronto: Harper, 1989. [Life Writing]

Laurence, Margaret. “Horses of the Night.” The Depression in Canadian Literature. Ed. Alice K. Hale and Sheila A. Brooks. Toronto: Macmillan, 1976. 38-60. [Short Story]

Left Out.Dir. Jim Purdy. NFB, 1985. [Film]

Lemelin, Roger.Au pied de la pente douce. 1944. Montréal: Cercle du livre de France, 1967. [Novel]

---. Les Plouffe. Québec: Belisle, 1948 [Novel]

Livesay, Dorothy. Right Hand, Left Hand. Erin, ON: Porcepic, 1977. [Poetry]

Loranger, Françoise. Mathieu. Montréal: Cercle du livre de France, 1949. [Novel]

MacLeod, Alistair. The Lost Salt Gift of Blood. Toronto: McClelland, 1976. [Novel]

Maguire, Trevor. “O Canada!: A Tale of Canadian Workers’ [sic] Life.” The Worker (19 Feb.-3 Sept. 1927): n.pag. [Serialized Novel]

---. Unemployment. Canadian Labour Monthly (May-June 1928). Rpt in Eight Men Speak, and Other Plays from the Canadian Workers’ Theatre.Ed. Richard Wright and Robin Endres. Toronto: New Hogtown, 1976. 5-14. [Play]

Maillet, Antonine. Mariaagélas. Montréal: Leméac, 1973. [Novel]

---. La Sagouine. Montréal: Leméac, 1971. [Play]

A Man and His Job. Dir. Alistair M. Taylor. NFB, 1943. [Film]

Mettrick, Alan. Last in Line: On the Road and Out of Work: A Desperate Journey with Canada’s Unemployed. Toronto: Key Porter, 1985. [Reportage]

Mistry, Rohinton. A Fine Balance. Toronto: Knopf, 1996. [Novel]

Montero, Gloria. Billy Higgins Rides the Freights. Toronto: Lorimer, 1982. [Novel for Young Adults]

---. We Stood Together: First-Hand Accounts of Dramatic Events in Canada’s Labour Past. Toronto: Lorimer, 1979. [Oral History]

Mukherjee, Bharati. Jasmine. New York: Grove, 1989. [Novel]

---. The Middleman and Other Stories. New York: Grove, 1988. [Short Story]

Ondaatje, Michael. In the Skin of a Lion. Toronto: McClelland, 1987. [Novel]

Poor People’s Press. Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montréal: N.D.G. Anti-Poverty League (Oct. 1989-Summer 1991). [Activist Newsletter]

Potrebenko, Helen. Life, Love and Unions. Vancouver: Lazara, 1987. [Poetry]

---. No Streets of Gold: A Social History of Ukrainians in Alberta. Vancouver: New Star, 1977. [Life Writing]

Proulx, Annie E. The Shipping News. New York: Scribner; Toronto: Macmillan, 1993. [Novel]

R.P.S. “May Day in Hamilton.” Davis, The Poetry of the Canadian People, 1900-1950 164. [Poetry]

Richard, Jean Jules. Le Journal d’un hobo. Montréal: Partis Pris, 1965. [Novel]

---. Neuf jours de haine.1948. Montréal: Cercle du livre de France, 1968. [Novel]

Richards, David Adams. The Coming of Winter. Toronto: McClelland, 1992. [Novel]

---. Evening Snow Will Bring Such Peace. Toronto: McClelland, 1990. [Novel]

---. For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down. Toronto: McClelland, 1993. [Novel]

---. Mercy Among the Children. Toronto: Doubleday, 2000. [Novel]

---. Nights Below Station Street. Toronto: McClelland, 1988. [Novel]

---. River of the Brokenhearted. Toronto: Random, 2003. [Novel]

---. Road to the Stilt House. Ottawa: Oberon, 1985. [Novel]

Richler, Mordecai. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Toronto: McClelland, 1969. [Novel]

---. Son of a Smaller Hero. Toronto: McClelland, 1992. [Novel]

---. The Street. London: Panther, 1971. [Novel]

Riis, Sharon. The True Story of Ida Johnson. Toronto: Women’s P, 1976. [Novel]

Roy, Gabrielle. Bonheur d’occasion. Montréal: Beauchemin, 1945. [Novel]

---. Fragiles lumières de la terre. Montréal: Quinze, 1978. [Novel]

---. La Rivière sans repos.Montréal: Beauchemin, 1970. [Novel]

---. Windflower. Trans. Joyce Marshall. Toronto: McClelland, 1970. [Translation of Gabrielle Roy’s La Rivière sans repos]

Ryan.Dir. Chris Landreth. NFB, 2004. [Film]

Ryga, George. The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1970. [Play]

Salverson, Laura Goodman. Confessions of an Immigrant’s Daughter. 1939. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1981. [Life Writing]

Sawai, Gloria. A Song for Nettie Johnson. Regina, SK: Coteau, 2002. [Short Story]

Scofield, Gregory. Native Canadiana: Songs from the Urban Rez. Vancouver: Polestar, 1996. [Poetry]

Shorty. “Down and Out, But.” Davis, The Poetry of the Canadian People, 1900-1950 172. [Poetry]

Shreve, Sandy. “Laid Off.” Class Is the Issue. Spec. issue of Fireweed 25 (Fall 1987): 46. [Life Writing]

Silman, Janet. Enough Is Enough: Aboriginal Women Speak Out. Toronto: Women’s P, 1987. [Oral History]

Sime, J[essie] G[eorgina]. Our Little Life: A Novel of Today. 1921. Ottawa: Tecumseh, 1994. [Novel]

---. Sister Woman. 1919. Ottawa: Borealis, 1992. [Short Story]

Souster, Raymond. The Colour of the Times: The Collected Poems of Raymond Souster.Toronto: Ryerson, 1964. [Poetry]

---. “The Child’s Umbrella.” Colour 55.

---. “City Hall Street.” Colour 15.

---. “Death by Streetcar.” Colour 49.

---. “Decision on King Street.” Colour 102.

---. “Downtown Corner News Stand.” Colour 30.

---. “Fisherman.” Colour 92.

---. “Freak Show.” Colour 21.

---. “Girl with the Face of Sores.” Colour 37.

---. “The Home.” Colour 42.

---. “John Street.” Colour 52.

---. “Night-Town.” Colour 3.

---. “Night Watch.” Colour 9.

---. “Old Man on Bay Street.” Colour 52.

---. “The Old Prospector.” Colour 43.

---. “The Penny Flute.” Colour 1.

---. “Roller Skate Man.” Colour 21.

---. “Search.” Colour 2.

---. “The Seller of Pencils.” Colour 58.

---. “Shake Hands with the Hangman.” Colour 10.

---. “Ten P.M.” Colour 2.

---. “The Top Hat.” Colour 60.

---. “The Victory.” Colour 60.

---  “The Girl in the Gumbo.” So Far So Good: Poems 1938/1968. Ottawa: Oberon, 1969. N.pag. [Poetry]

---. Going the Distance.Ottawa: Oberon, 1983. [Poetry]

---. “Adrift.” Going114.

---. “Bleeding-Heart Blues.” Going67.

---. “Body Odours.” Going80.

---. “Caring.” Going107.

---. “Man, Beer and Pidgeons.” Going47.

---. “Nothing Cheaper than Advice.” Going 37.

---. “Portrait of a Meddler.” Going131.

Sweatman, Margaret. Fox. Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone, 1991. [Novel]

Tracey, Lindalee. On the Edge: A Journey into the Heart of Canada. Vancouver: Douglas, 1993. [Reportage/Travel Narrative]

Tremblay, Michel. Thérèse et Pierrette et l’école des Saints-Anges. Montréal: Leméac, 1980. [Novel]

Turbulences. Dir. Carole Poliquin. NFB, 1998. [Film]

Unemployment: Voices from the Line. Dir. Pierre Lasry. NFB, 1980. [Film]

An Untidy Package.Dir. Debbie McGee. NFB, 1997. [Film]

Webber, Marlene. Food for Thought: How Our Dollar Democracy Drove 2 Million Canadians into Foodbanks to Collect Private Charity in Place of Public Justice. Toronto: Coach House, 1992. [Reportage]

Wilson, Ethel. The Innocent Traveller. 1949. Toronto: McClelland, 1990. [Novel]

---. “Lilly’s Story.” The Equations of Love. London: Macmillan, 1952. 131-281. [Short Story]

Wiseman, Adele. Crackpot.Toronto: McClelland, 1974. [Novel]

Without Work: The Buddy System. Dir. Allen Schinkel. NFB, 1989. [Film]

Without Work: The Drive Away.Dir. David Vainola. NFB, 1989. [Film]

Without Work: Is Everyone Here Crazy. Dir. Gail Singer. NFB, 1989. [Film]

Without Work: Killing Time. Dir. David Wellington. NFB, 1989. [Film]

Without Work: Not by Choice.Dir. Geoff Bowie. NFB, 1989. [Film]

Without Work: Sidetracked. Dir. Jean Bourbonnais. NFB, 1989. [Film]

Would I Ever Like to Work.Dir. Kathleen Shannon. NFB, 1974. [Film]

Wright, Richard B. Clara Callan. Toronto: Harper, 2001. [Novel]

 

Compiled by Jackie Hall and Roxanne Rimstead