photo of stacks (lower floor)

Canadian Literature & Poetry
in English

Women’s Writing

Biographies

Dictionary of Canadian Biography The Biography provides authoritative biographical information about significant figures of Canada’s past who died between the years 1000 and 1930, or whose last known date of activity falls within these years. There are detailed articles on Canada’s major historical figures, and short articles on minor personages who have hitherto found no place in reference works or general histories.
Profiles in Canadian Literature 1980– Heath, Jeffrey M., editor An on-going series since 1980, these volumes contain studies of a broad range of authors from a variety of regions and periods. Each author is presented in four sections: a brief essay about the writer’s work; a chronology of the works; comments by the writer, and comments by other critics. A bibliography of primary works and criticisms provides suggestions for further research and study.
PR 9184.6 .P76 Stacks Oversize Reference
ECW’s Biographical Guide to Canadian Novelists Lecker, Robert, ack David, Ellen Quigley, editors Includes such notables as Susanna Moodie, James De Mille, Stephen Leacock, Margaret Laurence, Alice Munro and Audrey Thomas. Brief biographies include titles of works published and awards earned. Arrangement by date of birth, the coverage begins in 1724, and ends with Matt Cohen (born in 1942).
Canadian Writers 1920–1959, First Series New, H.W., editor Alphabetically arranged essays have description of life and work, career chronology and a bio-critical narrative for each author. Reproduces samples of text, manuscript, title pages and dust jackets. Often includes photographs of authors and handwriting samples.
Canadian Writers 1920–1959, Second Series New, H.W., editor This volume covers the English language and French language writers of Canada who established their careers between 1920 and 1959. Illustrations include photographs of manuscripts and book jackets, as well as portraits of the writers. References are provided for further reading, and locations of archival papers are noted.
Canadian Writers Since 1960, First Series New, H.W., editor Biographies of major writers placed in the perspective of literary history; includes some minor figures. Has drawings, paintings, and photographs of authors; title pages and dust jackets of their works reproduced in facsimile. Alphabetical arrangement of works and books, multi media productions and periodical publications. An extensive biography about the author follows, with an analysis of style and used. Interviews are listed and a select bibliography concludes the entry.
Canadian Writers Since 1960, Second Series New, H.W., editor This work extends the First Series by providing additional biographies, critical overviews and bibliographies to English language and French language Canadian writers whose careers were established during the decades of the 1970s and 1980s.
Canadian Novelists, 1920–1945 Thomas, Clara Biographical and bibliographical information concerning authors either Canadian born or established residents who have published fiction since 1920. Note that there is nothing after 1945; use in conjunction with other bibliographies. Appendix at the end classifies authors according to the genre into which their works fit. Published in 1946.
Z 1377 .F4T5 Reference & Stacks

Bibliographies

Database of Canada’s Early Women Writers Gerson, Carole Women authors who either lived for an extensive period of time in Canada or self-identified as Canadian, and who published some form of writing in English—in any genre and in any forum—up to and including 1950. An entry for each writer includes the dates and places of the author’s birth and death, a bibliography of published works, and places of residence.
Canada’s Early Women Writers: Texts in English to 1859 Gerson, Carole This bibliographical study presents 152 women-authored English-language texts relating to Canada that were published from 1728 to 1859, including the works of Frances Brooke, Anna Jameson, Susanna Moodie, and Catherine Parr Traill. Included are monographas that appeared before 1860, and personal life-writings (letters, diaries, travel journals) written before 1860 that were published later.
The Feminine Gaze: A Canadian Compendium of Non-Fiction Women Authors and Their Books, 1836–1945 Dagg, Anne Innis A bibliography detailing writings by Canadians as well as British and American travellers on their impressions of Canada and many different cultural aspects of the country in the nineteenth and twentieth century. The compendium features brief biographies of the authors, short descriptions of their books, and a comprehensive index of of the subject matter of their books.
Bibliography of Feminist Criticism Godard, Barbara An older book (published in 1987), but it includes bibliographical lists of retrospective feminist criticism not published elsewhere. Also contains citation information of books, articles, theses, reviews on feminist literary theory interviews, general studies of feminist writers, dissertations about feminist literary theory, images of women in men’s writing, images of men, and feminist presses.
Contemporary Canadian and U.S. Women of Letters: An Annotated Bibliography Gerry, Thomas M. F. Provides a bibliography for sixteen contemporary writers from Canada and the United States. Although works of poetry and fiction are listed, the annotations are restricted to the critical and theoretical works of the writers. Canadian writers profiled in the volume include: Louky Bersianik, Nicole Brossard, Aritha Van Herk, Janice Kulyk Keefer, Jay Macpherson, Daphne Marlatt and Jane Rule.

reviewed & updated 20 May 2021 | compiled by Agatha Barc, MI