First Life Rattle Broadcast
6 February 1988

Total Number of Shows to Date
815

Total Hours of Programming
407.5

Estimated Number of Volunteer Hours
5,321

Total Number of Stories
1003

Total Number of Writers
252

Women/Men
177 (70%) / 75 (30%)

Writers Admitted to Canada as Refugees
6

Countries of Birth for Life Rattle Writers
Austria, Barbados, Cameroon, Canada, China, Columbia, England,
Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hungary, India, Italy,
Jamaica, Kenya, Latvia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines,
Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad, Vietnam,
United States, Zambia

Writers Who Immigrated to Canada in the Last Twenty Years
61 (24%)

Writers Who Are Children of Immigrants
65 (25.8%)

Writers Who Are Ninth-Generation Descendants
of European Immigrants
1 (0.5%)

Books Published by Life Rattle Writers
25

Life Rattle Writers Working on First Books
20

Writers Whose First Public Recognition Came through Life Rattle
231 (92%)

Life Rattle Writers Who Now Publish in Magazines and Journals
52 (20.6%)

Life Rattle Writers Who Now Work in Writing and Publishing
25

Life Rattle Stories Set in Toronto
483 (48%)

Life Rattle Stories Set outside Canada
207 (20.6%)

Percentage of Life Rattle Stories Involving Physical Violence
8.7%

Life Rattle Stories about Arranged Marriage
8

Longest Life Rattle Story
Janine Burigana’s "Jesus Christ Kids, It’s Christmas!"
(6 shows long—3 hours)

Life Rattle Stories about Bringing Human Sperm
through Canada Customs
1

Life Rattle Stories Played on National CBC Radio
12

Number of Arts Grants Received by Life Rattle
17

Life Rattle Writers Shortlisted for The Governor General’s Award
1 (Donna McFarlane, Division of Surgery)

Number of Stories Submitted to Life Rattle by George Bush
0