"Canadian writers often work in the middle of the range of language, kind of the Ontario model of decorum," explains Robert Kroetsch in Between the Stones and the Ocean: A Portrait of Rudy Wiebe (airing on Bravo!, Thu, Apr 6, 6:30 pm). "Rudy’s from the West–he’s got a voice all his own. You read three lines and you know Rudy wrote them."

Wiebe’s literary uniqueness–maintaining a close connection to the land while fostering an entirely distinctive style–informs both of the projects commemorating Wiebe’s life. The documentary coincides with the publication of Wiebe’s own memoirs, Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest. Both productions begin to delineate a writing life that is far from the model of literary success that is dominant elsewhere.

Wiebe (born in Speedwell, Saskatchewan, in 1934), unlike most literary heroes, has spent almost all his life on the Prairies. The stuff of his writing is similarly grounded in the terrain here and in Northern Canada. He is the author of nine novels, and four short story collections and non-fiction works. Additionally, Wiebe holds the distinction of winning the Governor General’s award twice: in 1973 for The Temptations of Big Bear and in 1994 for A Discovery of Strangers.

Wiebe’s latest volume, as the title implies, eschews the life of his literary achievements in favour of his boyhood development. As a genre, boyhood memoirs are no easy task to write. Typically, the biographical timeframe they consider is the least distinctive: few authors did anything really significant until they were beyond the scope of these memoirs. Instead, we are typically witness to undifferentiated childhoods. Moreover, because the subject matter is tender youth, frequently these things are so saturated in sentimentalism and nostalgia that the appeal to others is limited.

Perhaps because he has written so much historical fiction over the course of his career, Wiebe manages to avoid these caveats. His excavation of his early years is thoroughly interesting from both personal and historical perspectives. The anecdotes which tell those stories are often intricate constructions touched with an inimitable, subtle comedy. (For instance, the tale of his sexual detailing, though it cannot be well encapsulated, involves barnyard voyeurism, a know-it-all best friend, and almost being crushed to death by a horse).

The memoir is also unique in that Wiebe creates a clear continuity between the colonial and pre-colonial histories he grew up with. Given his work on and with First Nations subjects, this is expected but nonetheless refreshing–no doubt, because comparisons between this memoir and pioneer literature are easy to make. Whereas the underlying theme of pioneer literature, however, is about conquering wildness, be it lurking in the face of the native or the pristine wilderness, Of This Earth is concerned with an identity that emerges from a genuine love and curiosity for the earth.

The theme of an identity rising up from the landscape also informs Between the Stones and the Ocean. Opening with an extended shot of Wiebe wandering through a grove of aspens, the documentary follows Wiebe through Alberta and Saskatchewan as he visits the various sites of both his history and that of his books.

For the average viewer, this could make for some very dull watching. However, Wiebe’s humble charm shines through when detailing his exhaustive research trips through the prairies for The Temptations of Big Bear, articularting that his motivation was simply to determine "what was this land all about that he [Big Bear] refused to give it away." The idea Wiebe encapsulates, that landscape can be absorbed through a peripatetic process of genuine curiosity and honour, and that, in so doing, history’s secrets are rendered less complicated, is a particularly uncommon one in the 21st century. This perspective on the terrain of Western Canada is one of the reasons why he is recognized as an unparalleled voice in Canadian letters.