Abstract
Traditional approaches to Prairie literature have focussed on the significance of "the land" in attempts to make a place into a home. This emphasis on the importance of landscape as a defining and guiding feature for writers and their writing ignores the important roles played by influences brought to the land - history, culture, gender, ethnicity, religion, community, family, and occupation. Deborah Keahey considers over seventy years of Canadian Prairie literature, including poetry, autobiography, drama, and fiction, from seventeen writers, ranging from the well-established, like Martha Ostenso and Robert Kroetsch, to newer writers, like Ian Ross and Kelly Rebar.