Alma Frances McCollum (7 December 1879, near

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– 21 March 1906,

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) was a

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poet and composer. She is best known for her collection of poems ''Flower Legends and Other Poems'' (1902).

Early life and education

Alma Frances McCollum was born on 7 December 1879, in a village near Chatham, Ontario to Edward Lee Collum (1826 – 1887) and Mary Ann Sharpe (1833 – 1919). She was the youngest daughter of six in her family. Her parents both were born and brought up in

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. Her father, Edward Lee Collum, died when McCollum was still a child, and the family moved to

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, Ontario, where they lived till 1905 before moving to Toronto. McCollum graduated from the Collegiate Institute at Peterborough and studied at the Toronto Presbyterian Ladies College, as well as in

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, Massachusetts.

Career

McCollum early started making rhymes and wrote most of the poems in her teen years. A collection of her poems named ''Flower Legends and Other Poems'' was published in 1902. The cover design of the book was sketched by McCollum herself. The book was positively accepted by the Toronto literary community, namely

Ethelwyn Wetherald Ethelwyn Wetherald (26 April 1857 – 9 March 1940) was a Canadian poet and journalist, published across Canada and the United States. Life and career Wetherald was born of English Quakers, Quaker parents at Rockwood, Ontario, on April 26, 1857. ...

Jean Blewett Jean McKishnie Blewett (pen name, Katherine Kent; 4 November 1862 – 19 August 1934) was a Canadian journalist, author and poet. Biography Blewett was born Janet McKinshie in Scotia, Kent County, Ontario in 1862 to Scottish immigrants (s ...

, and J. W. Galvin. Having moved to Toronto she received musical training at the School of Expression in the Toronto Conservatory of Music and wrote plays for children. She also took lectures in English Literature at University College, but after brief attendance she had to discontinue her studies due to health problems.

Death and legacy

McCollum was diagnosed with incipient

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, and during the operation on 21 March 1906 she died at the age of 26. Her book ''Flower Legends and Other Stories'' (1902) and its reprints can be found in libraries throughout the world, including

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, McGrill University Library,

Plymouth State University Plymouth State University (PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students an ...

Library and others. Her poems are also anthologized in following collections: Campbell, ''Oxford Book of Canadian Verse'' (1913); Caswell, ''Canadian Singers and Their Songs'' (1925); Garvin, ''Canadian Poets'' (1916); Garvin, ''Canadian Verse for Boys and Girls'' (1930); Whyte-Edgar, ''Wreath of Canadian Song'' (1910).

Bibliography

Books

* ''Flower Legends and Other Poems'' (1902).

List of selected poems

* ''Why Blossoms Fall'' * ''Love'' * ''A Song of the Forest'' * ''The Angel of the Sombre Cowl'' * ''The Silent Singer'' * ''Little Nellie’s Pa'' * ''Forest Sounds'' * ''The Angel’s Kiss'' * ''Where Sings the Whippoorwill''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCollum, Alma Frances 1879 births 1906 deaths Canadian women poets 19th-century Canadian poets Canadian women non-fiction writers