Arthur Motyer (December 15, 1925 – June 23, 2011) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

educator, playwright and novelist.

Life and career

Born in

Hamilton, Bermuda The City of Hamilton, in Pembroke Parish, is the territorial capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination. Its population of 854 (2016) is one of the sm ...

, the son of building contractor and land developer Ernest Motyer and Edith Brunning, he was educated at

Saltus Grammar School Saltus Grammar School, founded in 1880, is an independent school in Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. It was a boys' school until 1992, when it became co-educational. It has two campuses, one for the Lower Primary (Foundation - Year 2) and one for the U ...

and later (1942–1945) studied English literature at

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not parti ...

in Sackville, New Brunswick. In 1945, after graduation and short periods in the Canadian Army and the University of Toronto, he travelled to England on a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

where read English at Exeter College, studying under

Nevill Coghill Nevill Henry Kendal Aylmer Coghill (19 April 1899 – 6 November 1980) was an English literary scholar, known especially for his modern English version of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''. Life His father was Sir Egerton Coghill, 5th ...

. His namesake uncle, Arthur John Motyer, had also been a Rhodes scholar from Bermuda (1905). Returning to Canada, from 1948 to 1950 he taught English and drama at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Bishop's University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Diocese of Quebe ...

, which he held for the next twenty years. Among his students there were the future novelist

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of multiple literary awards such as the Governor General's Award, the Giller P ...

and

Scott Griffin Scott Griffin, (born 1938) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist best known for founding the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2000, one of the world's most generous poetry awards, and Poetry In Voice, a bilingual recitation competition for Canadia ...

, founder in 2000 of the

Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...

.Noreen Shanahan
"Professor Arthur Motyer had a profound impact on his students"
''The Globe and Mail'', July 31, 2011 Griffin has spoken about Motyer's influence on his attitude towards poetry: In the 1960s, while director of the Dramatic Society at Bishop's he led the development and realization of the Centennial Theatre there. Opening in 1967, Centennial Theatre has played a significant role in the cultural life of the Eastern Townships ever since. In 1970, he returned to his alma mater where he accepted the position of Purvis Professor of English and associate dean of faculty at Mount Alison University. Among other roles in Sackville, he was chair of the classical concert touring organization Debut Atlantic, founded Windsor Theatre and the Mount Allison Drama Program, and was the founding chair of

Live Bait Theatre Live Bait Theatre is a theatre company based in Sackville, New Brunswick, in Canada. Established in 1988, writer Arthur Motyer was the founding chair. Performers have included Rita MacNeil, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes ...

. He died in Sackville in 2011.Obituary
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Personal life

He was married to and later divorced Janet Speid. They had two children. He was gay, a fact he only revealed publicly after retirement and with the publication of his novel ''What's Remembered''. His partner in the latter part of his life was the composer Alasdair MacLean.

Published works

* ''Innocence at Sea'' (play) * ''What's Remembered'' (semi-autobiographical novel about life as a gay man, nominee for the

Amazon.ca First Novel Award The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English language, English published the previous year by a citize ...

, 2004) * ''The Staircase Letters: An Extraordinary Friendship at the End of Life'' (memoir about a former student, Elma Gerwin and the novelist

Carol Shields Carol Ann Shields, (née Warner; June 2, 1935 – July 16, 2003) was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel '' The Stone Diaries'', which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well a ...

, 2007)

References

External links

Motyer reading from ''The Staircase Letters''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motyer, Arthur 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male novelists Mount Allison University faculty Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Canadian Rhodes Scholars 1925 births 2011 deaths 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian memoirists LGBT memoirists Canadian LGBT novelists LGBT dramatists and playwrights Canadian gay writers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers 21st-century LGBT people