John Bell

John Bell is a Montreal-born Haligonian (with deep Nova Scotia roots) currently living in Ottawa, where he works as a senior archivist at Library and Archives Canada.  The author or editor of nearly twenty books and a former editor of the poetry magazine Arc, he has contributed to a wide variety of periodicals, including Literary Review of Canada, Event, This Magazine, and Maisonneuve.  His work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and collections, the most recent being Nova Scotia: Visions of the Future (2009), edited by Lesley Choyce.  As well, he has given readings and lectured on cultural history in many different venues and has served as the curator of several exhibitions and websites for the Canadian Museum of Caricature, the National Library, and the National Archives. 
 
The late Malcolm Ross, one of Canada's most renowned literary scholars, offered the following description of John's work: "John Bell is a unique figure in our literary landscape.  He goes his own way and is more likely to create fashions than to follow them.”

Links

http://www.pottersfieldpress.com/authors/bellj.html

Selected Bibliography

Invaders from the North: How Canada Conquered the Comic Book Universe (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2006).  Foreword by Seth. ISBN-13 9781550026597

"It is likely to remain the definitive history of Canadian comics.” - Literary Review of Canada

Confederate Seadog: John Taylor Wood in War and Exile (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2002) ISBN 978-0-7864-1352-2

"This is a well-researched, well-written biography of a fascinating Civil War officer" - The Civil War News

(editor) Against the Raging Sea: Stories from the Golden Age (Lawrencetown Beach, NS: Pottersfield Press, 2002) ISBN-10 1-895900-48-4 / ISBN-13 978-1-895900-48-4

“Against the Raging Sea will reward open-minded readers with a fascinating glimpse of a time, and a literary genre, that may be long gone but deserves to be remembered.” - Halifax Herald

(editor) Atlantic Sea Stories (Porters Lake, N.S.: Pottersfield Press, 1995) ISBN 0-919001-91-2

"These stories should appeal to a variety of readers, young and old, and Bell has assembled them with scholarly care.   His general introduction reveals the writers= connections to the maritime world that inspired their work and shows the  network of incident, coincidence and mutual interests that drew a number of these men to each other and to the North Atlantic." - The Northern Mariner

(editor) The Grand-Slam Book of Canadian Baseball Writing (Porters Lake, N.S.: Pottersfield Press, 1993) ISBN 0-919001-79-3

“John Bell’s introduction is gracefully modest as well as historically provocative.  He exceeds his hope for a simple base-hit.” - The Atlantic Provinces Book Review

Guardians of the North: The National Superhero in Canadian Comic-Book Art (Ottawa: National Archives of Canada, 1992) ISBN 0662193474 

“Guardians of the North clearly shows us how much has been attempted and accomplished by Canadians in one of    North America’s most specialized forms of pop art.” - Toronto Star

(editor) Ottawa: A Literary Portrait (Porters Lake, N.S.: Pottersfield Press, 1992).  Foreword by Sandra Gwyn. ISBN 0-919001-74-2

"Ottawa: A Literary Portrait . . . should find a place on the bookshelf beside John Taylor's fine Ottawa: An Illustrated History (1986) and Sandra Gwyn's estimable The Private Capital (1984)" - Urban History Review

(editor) Halifax: A Literary Portrait (Porters Lake, N.S.: Pottersfield Press, 1990).  Foreword by Robert MacNeil. ISBN 0-919001-65-3

“Collected in chronological order by editor John Bell, the whole is Halifax: A Literary Portrait, as satisfying and     sumptuous an urban landscape as you could ever hope to find . . . What we need is a John Bell in every city in  Canada, giving  back desperately needed images of ourselves and our country.” -Globe and Mail

Canuck Comics: A Guide to Comic Books Published in Canada (Montreal: Matrix Books, 1986). Foreword by Harlan Ellison. ISBN 0-921101-00-7

“This is indeed a detailed and absorbing look at comic books in Canadian history.” - Canadian Materials

(co-editor with Lesley Choyce) Visions from the Edge: An Anthology of Atlantic Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy (Porters Lake, N.S.: Pottersfield Press, 1981) ISBN 0-919001-03-3

 “Mind-boggling, thought-provoking, whimsical, scary . . . it’s all here and most entertaining.” - Halifax Herald 

You can send mail to John Bell
c/o Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia