The Contemporary Leonard Cohen

Kait Pinder is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and Theatre at Acadia University. Her recent work has appeared in Canadian Literature, Studies in Canadian Literature, and The University of Toronto Quarterly. Joel Deshaye is a professor at Memorial University. His move to the East Coast stimulated his writing of The American Western in Canadian Literature (forthcoming from the University of Calgary Press). His first book was The Metaphor of Celebrity: Canadian Poetry and the Public, 1955-1980 (2013), which focused partly on Cohen.

"Anyone who walks the streets of Montreal knows just how present Leonard Cohen is. His visage enfolds the city, reminding us about all the ways he transcended politics to seek something spiritual, something aesthetically sustaining. This new collection captures Cohen's historic cultural impact, but it also defines the myriad ways in which he was always contemporary. Anyone who wants to understand Cohen's influence and the trajectory of his writing will need this book. Its perceptive introduction helps to frame the evolution of Cohen's multi-faceted career. It offers a rich conversation among some of the most accomplished critics writing about Cohen today." - Robert Lecker, McGill University "The Contemporary Leonard Cohen presents readers with a kaleidoscope of perspectives, illuminating the multifaceted richness of Cohen's body of work, from his earliest writings to the posthumously released productions. Ultimately, our own stance as scholars, artists, and fans of Cohen's texts, in which we are so often directly addressed, is challenged, making this volume relevant not only to those interested in Leonard Cohen but also to anyone seeking to understand the dynamics of artistic communication." - Francis Mus, Ghent University; University of Antwerp