This course explores the important and timely claim made by Tuscarora writer Alicia Elliott that “CanLit is a Raging Dumpster Fire” (Refuse 93). Given the explosive set of debates around racism, sexism, class and regional privilege that have emerged in the past decade in studies of Canadian literature written in English, this course aims to unpack some of the key issues that have shaped CanLit’s past and led to its divisive present, while thinking about what its future holds. What significance does CanLit have as “an industry, a cultural field and an academic discipline[?]” (McGregor, Rak, and Wunker 2017). In response to this urgent query, the course examines who and what has shaped the canon of Canadian literature written in English at a post-secondary level, both at home and abroad. Students will be evaluated based on response papers, a conference presentation, a longer publishable essay, and in-class participation.