Novels
- 1979 (Biblioasis, 2018)
- I Was There the Night He Died (Biblioasis, 2014)
- David (Thomas Allen Publishers, 2009; paperback/Biblioasis, 2013)
- What Happened Later (Thomas Allen, 2007; French: VLB Editeur, 2012)
- Gently Down the Stream (Cormorant, 2005)
- Moody Food (Doubleday, 2002; US: Santa Fe Writers Project, 2006; Biblioasis: 2010; French: VLB Editeur, 2010)
- Heroes (Dundum, 2000; Biblioasis, 2015)
- Home Movies (Cormorant, 1997)
Nonfiction
- How to Die: A Book About Being Alive (Biblioasis, 2020; Serbian: Karpos Publishing, forthcoming)
- Lives of the Poets (With Guitars) (Biblioasis, 2016; Serbian: Karpos Publishing, 2018)
- Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live (Biblioasis, 2011; German: Random House, 2012; Serbian: Karpos Publishing, 2016)
- Mental Hygiene: Essays on Writers and Writing (Insomniac, 2003)
Poetry
- The Old Man in the Mirror Isn’t Me: Last Call Haiku (Exile, 2020)
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
2020
Domazet, Sanja, “Što Da Ne? Petnaest razloga za život,” Politika (Serbia), April 10
Dundas, Deborah, “Twenty books you need to know about in Spring 2020,” Toronto Star, January 10
Giliforte, Brittany, “Ray Robertson’s How to Die will improve your life,” Queens’ Journal, February 13
Keystone, Kevin, “Death Becomes Us: On the universal experience,” Literary Review of Canada, October
McCabe, Patti, “Ray Robertson and Mara Korkola: Life in Words and Pictures,” Neighbours of High Park & Roncesvalles, January
Myskiw, Jarett, “Live and let die: Ruminations on death highlight value of perspective on life,” Winnipeg Free Press, February 22
Niedzviecki, Hal, “Death in the Small Press,” Broken Pencil, June 4
Shreve, Elwood, “Author Ray Robertson delves into the topic of death in latest book,’” Chatham Daily News, January 6
Wiersema, Robert, “Grief is devastating, but it can teach us to live,” Toronto Star, January 29
Wilhelm, Trevor, “How to Die: A Book About Being Alive,” Windsor Star, Feb. 5
“A Deathly Tome,” Toronto Life, January
2018
Cardwell, Kathryne, “Paperboy’s coming-of-age story a vintage treat,” Winnipeg Free Press, March 17
Carter, Sue, “Novel brings Ontario town Into the CanLit experience,” Toronto Star, March 3
Miller, Geordie, “Nostalgia Novels,” Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review, Winter 2018
Shreve, Elwood, “Author Ray Robertson weaves local history into new novel `1979’” Chatham Daily News, March 3
2017
Belcher, William, “Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” The Alt, Feb. 13
Jankovic, Zoran, “Rej Rpbertson: Spinoza ili Simpsonovi?” City Magazine (Serbia), July 3
Pancic, Teofil, “Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live,” Elle (Serbia), May
2016
Cobb, Mike, “Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” Elmore, Dec. 6
Cole, Susan, “Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” Now, March 2
Hammond, Barry, “Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” Penguin Eggs, Issue #72, Winter 2016
Cribbs, Stephen, “Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” 50THIRD and 3RD, May
Khanna, Vish, “Don’t stop the music: Ray Robertson grapples with fandom and obscurity in Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” Globe and Mail, April 2
Kirkus Review, “Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” March
Krings, Mike, “The Words Behind the Music,” Utne Reader, Summer
Lyttle, John, “Off the Charts: Musical underdogs get their due in collection,” Winnipeg Free Press, March 19
Nayman, Adam, “Hardcore Troubdours: Ray Robertson’s essay collection reaches out to roots, blues, and gospel aficionados,” Quill and Quire, March
Roe, Sturdee, “Poets with Guitars,” Architecture Boogie, April 15
Shreve, Elwood, “Ray Robertson releases new book `Lives of the Poets (with Guitars'”), Chatham Daily News, February 20
Simm, Brad, “Canadian Author Ray Robertson uncovers 13 treasures in Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” Beat Route, October 6
Thompson, Mark, “Lives of the Poets (with Guitars),” Blues Blast Magazine, Nov. 19
Weirsema, Robert, “Tales of guitar greats make familiar feel new,” Toronto Star, March 12
2015
Murray, Andrew, “I Was There the Night He Died,” subTerrain, #69
2014
Colbert, Jade, “The Best in Small Press: Three Books to Check Out Now,” Globe and Mail, June 14
Herrold, Charlotte, “Music Continues to Inspire Toronto Author Ray Robertson,” Post City, March
Madden, Stacey, “I Was There the Night He Died,” Quill and Quire, April
Mastracci, Lorren, “I Was There the Night He Died,” The Urbanite, March
Pellet, Chad, “Canlit Fridays: Ray Robertson’s I Was There the Night He Died,” The Overcast, June 27
Publisher’s Weekly, “I Was There the Night He Died,” May
Redekop, Corey, “I Was There the Night He Died,” Winnipeg Review, April 24
Rioux, Helene, “Ray Robertson, CS Richardson, Timothy Findley, Lettres Quebecoises, February
Shields, Vanessa, “I Was There the Night He Died,” Windsor Indepednent, September
Shreeve, Elwood, “Chatham Native Coming Home for Book Reading,” The Chatham Dally News, April 22
Stonich, Sarah, “I Was There the Night He Died,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, June 10
Whittall, Zoe, “I Was There the Night He Died,” National Post, April 26
Worsley, David, “I Was There the Night He Died,” The Cord Community, April
2013
Hanks-Mackey, Shannon, “David,” The Black Scholar, Septemer
Hargreaves, Kate, “Robertson-in-Residence,” The Lance, Jan 30
Kempf, Andrea, “David,” Library Journal, January 1
McArthur, Cynthia, “David,” Historical Novels Review, Issue 66, November
2012
Ballon, Diana, “Why Not? Fifteen reflections on reasons to live.” Crosscurrents, Vol 15, No.4, Summer
Buma, Michael, Refereeing Identity: The Cultural Work of Canadian Hockey Novels, McGill-Queen’s University Press, p 44-47, p 82, p 84-86, p 90-92, p 96, p 267
Desmeules, Christian, “La beat identification,” Le Doir, September 29
Doolan, Susan, “Writer tackles Happiness.” Barrie Examiner, April 13
Ferland, Pierre-Paul, “What Happened Later,” salon double: observatoire de la litterature contemporaire, November 5
Smith, Travis, “The Relatively Good Life.” Convivium, Volume 1, No.3 July/August
McGillis, Ian, “Things are going well for Ray Robertson these days.” Montreal Gazette, April 13
Reunhardt, Susie, “Was macht das Leben lebenswert?” Psychologie Heute, Heft 32
2011
Brown, Adrienne, “Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live.” Guelph Mercury, Oct. 28
Clare, Kerry, “Chasing Happiness.” UofT Alumni Magazine, October
Jackson, Blair, “Chatham native up for national book prize,” Chatham Daily News, Oct. 13
McGillis, Ian, “Learning to Celebrate Life: Robertson is Heartfelt and funny without being preachy.” Montreal Gazette, November 26
Medley, Mark, “Ray Robertson Looks Toward the Light with Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live.” National Post, Oct. 5
Persky, Stan, “A rock and roll Montaigne decides not to die.” Globe and Mail, Oct.15
Purdy, Vanessa, “Why Not? read it? Author Ray Robertson dares to give life meaning.” The newspaper, Nov.3
Ryan, Sarina, “David.” Northern Terminus: The African Canadian History Journal, Volume 8
Shreve, Elwood, “Rave reviews for Ray.” Chatham Daily News, Dec. 15
Stone, Beverly, “Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live.” Toronto Review of Books, Nov.25
2010
Beattie, Steven, “Ray Robertson and Masculinity.” Canadian Notes and Queries, Number 80
Blake, Jason, Canadian Hockey Literature, University of Toronto Press, p 119-121, p 145
Drouin, Serge, “Un Univers Glaque et Melancolique.” Le Journal de Quebec, June 19
Harris, Amy Lavender, Imagining Toronto, Mansfield Press, p. 165, p 181, p 275
Proulx, Candide, “La vie boheme.” Voir, July 22
Rigelhoff, T.F., Hooked on Canadian Books: The Good, Better, and the Best Canadian Novels Since 1984, Cormorant Books, p. 90-94
Skinazi, Karen E.H., “Expanding Jack Keroauc’s `America’: Canadian Revisions of On the Road,” American Studies, Fall/Winter, Vol. 51, Issue 3&4, p 31
Sylvestre, Paul-Francois, “Le Toronto Des Arness 1960 Dans Un Roman Melancoulique.” L’Express, Oct.25
2009
Fetherling, George, “Rage and resurrection.” Globe and Mail, Sept. 19
Pevere, Geoff, “Some shackles are internal.” Toronto Star, September 20.
Reid, Robert, “Novelist uses history as a springboard to a world of the imagination.” Guelph Mercury, September 26
Black, Barbara, “Young fan fumbles toward wisdom.” Montreal Gazette, Nov.15.
Anderson, Mary Jo, “What Happened Later a feat of skill.” Halifax Chronicle Herald, April 20
Harrison, Brendan, “Dirtbags duke it out with Men in Space.” FFWD, March 13
2007
Calabro, John, “On Living Without Mistakes: An Interview.” Books in
Canada, January/February.
Cole, Susan, “On the Road Again.” Now Magazine, August 30-September 5.
Hoeflle, Harold, “What Happened Later.” Quill and Quire, September.
Kelly, Bernard, “This Ray finally gets the book right.” Toronto Star, September 2.
Kowalski, William, “Ray and Jack hot the road.” Globe and Mail, September 1.
Laird, Anne, “The best of the new novels: Independent Booksellers List Their Top Choices.” Grand Magazine, November/Decemebr
MacGowan, James, “An embarrassment of riches.” The Ottawa Citizen, September 30.
MacGowan, James, “My Top 10 of the year.” Ottawa Citizen, December 9.
Miller, Eric, “Putting Kerouac Back on the Road.” Books in Canada, September.
Reid, Robert, “Inspired by Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Toronto novelist does iconic writer proud.” Kitchener-Waterloo Record, September 29.
Robinet, Karen, “National book tour bringing Chatham novelist back home.” Sept.26.
Schultz, Emily, “Hit the Road, Jack.” Eye Weekly, September 6.
Shreve, Ellwood, “Robertson’s new book a success.” Chatham Daily News, September 8.
Wiersema, Robert, “The Long and Holy Road.” National Post, September 22.
2006
Earle, Jamelah, “Three Completely Unrelated Novels.” Literary Kicks. Nov.1
Whalen, Tracy, “Covering Geometries.” Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review, Winter.
Wilkinson, Joanne, “Moody Food.” Booklist, September.
2005
Armitage, Andrew, “Read This!.” Owen Sound Sun Times, May 5
Bendo, Yvonne, “Writing is a natural fit.” Chatham Daily News, April 23.
Delaney, Rachelle, “Ordinary Guy is focus of thoughtful novel.” Edmonton Journal, April 10.
Firth, Matthew, “I’m an Adult Now.” Ottawa Xpress, September 29.
Gilmour, David, “Life just slipping away.” National Post, April 23.
Kelly, Bernard, “Boy with dog, wife and house.” Toronto Star, April 10.
Murray, Andrew, “Gently Down the Stream.” Monday Magazine, Nov.9
Ranford, Lisa, “Author draws on his local experiences.” The Villager, April 1.
Rigelhof, T.F., “The slacker breaks on through.” Globe and Mail, March 26.
Salem-Wiseman, Lisa, “Another Man Unwilling to Grow Up.” Books in Canada, Summer, Vol.34, Number 5.
Shannon, Gene, “Merrily, Merrily, Merrily: Local Writer Ray Robertson probes the struggles of everyday living.” Parkdale Liberty, April/May 2006.
2004
Fetherling, George, “Mental Hygiene.” Vancouver Sun, June 21.
Firth, Matthew, “What’s Really Hot and What’s Really Not.” Ottawa Express, June 5.
Golfman, Noreen, “Letters In Canada 2002.” University of Toronto Quarterly, volume 73, number 1, winter 2003/2004.
Good, Alex, “Canlit landscape gets a scrubdown.” Kitchner-Waterloo Record, June 28.
Hanna, Tim, “The Inimitable Ray Robertson.” Hive, Issue 2.
Mackenzie, Karen, “Peace and love: Local author celebrates Toronto’s swinging sixties.” The Annex Gleaner, June.
Robinet, Don, “Chatham-born author has words of wisdom for local students.” Chatham This Week, June 2.
2003
Brouwer, Adair, “Mental Hygiene.” (Starred Review) Quill and Quire, May.
Schultz, Emily, “Mental Hygiene.” Broken Pencil
Scott, Susan, “Mental Hygiene.” Scene, July 24.
Wiersema, Robert, “The Scourge of McCanlit.” Toronto Star, April 27.
Cross, Jasper, “Heroes.” British Journal of Canadian Studies, Volume Sixteen, Number Two.
2002
“From Here to There: An Interview with Ray Robertson.” Hart House Review 2002.
Armitage, Andrew, “Novel looks at 1960s music scene in Toronto.” Owen Sound Sun Times, July 25.
Barker, Randi, “Chatham native finds writing success.” Chatham Daily News, May 16.
Donnelly, Pat, “Flashback to the 60’s: Decade’s good and bad times replayed in eventful novel.” Montreal Gazette, May 11.
Dueck, Gordon, “Yorkfill.” Paperplates, Vol.5, No.3
Firth, Matthew, “The Tale of Two Scribes: Kevin Connoly and Ray Robertson Take Their Own Routes to Glory.” Ottawa Express, Sept 19.
Johnson, Andrew, “Interview with Ray Robertson.” Books In Canada, June/July.
Jones, Joseph, “Moody Food.” Canadian Book Review Annual, 2002
Jory, Bill, “Psst . . .Santa: Try turning over a new leaf.” The London Free Press, December 23.
McGillis, Ian, “Rock’n Rolling in Yorkville.” Books in Canada, June/July.
Richler, Noah, “New era in the history of the novel: Two Canadians and a Tasmanian prove books are nowhere near dead.” National Post, May 9.
Rigelhof, T.F., “Yorkville Satire Flat-out Rocks.” Globe and Mail, April 13.
Schneider, Jason, “A Gram of Truth: Ray Robertson’s Yorkville Countryside.” Exclaim!, July.
Wiersema, Robert J, “Best Books of 2002.” Vancouver Sun, December 7
Wright, Eric, “Getting a Giddy Time Right.” National Post, April 13.
2001
Managan, David, “Heroes.” The Independent Weekly, January 25-31.
Myer, Bruce, “The Outside Chance of Ray Robertson.” (Cover story). The Vic Report, Spring 2001.
Shubery, Irwin, “Heroes.” subTerrain, issue 30.
2000
Armitage, Andrew, “Pining for Ice Time.” Owen Sound Sun Times, August 19
Bolger, Keven, “A Trip to Bountiful.” Toronto Star, March 19.
Johnston, Andrew, “Author Making Impact.” The Chatham Daily News, June 15.
McNich, Kathy, “Life’s Meaning Explored From Different Angles.” Saskatoon Star Phoenix, October 7.
Mirakian, Alleen, “The Making of a Hero.” The Varsity, April 6.
Wynne-Jones, Tim, “Hockey Hell in Kansas.” Globe and Mail, March 25.
Wiersema, Robert J., “Heroes.” (Starred review) Quill & Quire, February.
1999
“Ray Robertson Does The Slush Interview.” Slush Magazine, Number Seven, October.
1998
Noyes, Tom, Quarter After Eight, Fall.
Putre, Laura, Cleveland Free Times, March 4-10.
1997
Bendo, Yvonne. “Chatham Native’s New Book Has Some Local Flavor.” The Chatham Daily News,. July 11.
Gault, Michelle. “An Easy, Breezy Read on the Lighter Side of Life.” View Weekly, August 14.
Holmes, Michael. “First Fiction.” Quill & Quire, April.
Kastner, Jamie. “Novel Reaches High, and Barely Misses.” Globe and Mail, Toronto. September 6.
Johnson, Andrew. “Making a Living as a Creative Writer.” id, Guelph. July 24.
Mirakian, Alleen. “At Home with Ray Robertson.” The Varsity, October 14.
