''Descant'' (1970 – 2015) was a quarterly

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evalu ...

that published new and established contemporary writers and visual artists from Canada and around the world, reflecting "a cosmopolitan awareness." It was established in 1970 as a

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the pro ...

. Based in Toronto, in its later years ''Descant'' published two themed issues per year, and a winter and summer miscellany issue. From 2007 to 2014, ''Descant'' sponsored the Winston Collins/''Descant'' Prize for Best Canadian Poem. The list of contributors to ''Descant'' includes numerous now-famous Canadian authors. Many of these are listed i
Bibliomania
(No. 133, summer 2006) an
Bibliomania 2
(No. 135, winter 2006) and include:

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, ...

, bill bissett, Nicole Brossard,

Anne Carson Anne Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor. Trained at the University of Toronto, Carson has taught classics, comparative literature, and creative writing at universities across the Unit ...

, Camilla Gibb,

Barbara Gowdy Barbara Gowdy, CM (born 25 June 1950) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Born in Windsor, Ontario, she is the long-time partner of poet Christopher Dewdney and resides in Toronto. Literary career Gowdy's novel '' Falling Angels ...

, Dennis Lee,

Daphne Marlatt Daphne Marlatt, born Buckle, CM (born July 11, 1942 in Melbourne, Australia), is a Canadian poet and novelist who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. At a young age her family moved to Malaysia and at age nine they moved to British Columb ...

, Anne Michaels,

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 ...

Al Purdy Alfred Wellington Purdy (December 30, 1918 – April 21, 2000) was a 20th-century Canadian free verse poet. Purdy's writing career spanned fifty-six years. His works include thirty-nine books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four b ...

Leon Rooke Leon Rooke, CM (born September 11, 1934) is a Canadian novelist. He was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina in the United States. Educated at the University of North Carolina, he moved to Canada in 1969. He now lives in Toronto, Ontario. Rook ...

Jane Urquhart Jane Urquhart, LL.D (born June 21, 1949) is a Canadian novelist and poet. She is the internationally acclaimed author of seven award-winning novels, three books of poetry and numerous short stories. As a novelist, Urquhart is well known for her e ...

and Jan Zwicky. The last issue of ''Descant'', No. 167, was launched a
Supermarket Restaurant and Bar
in Toronto, in January 2015. A final party was held at Revival Bar in Toronto on March 25, 2015. The magazine's extensive archives are located in the

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is a library in the University of Toronto, constituting the largest repository of publicly accessible rare books and manuscripts in Canada. The library is also home to the university archives which, in addition ...

at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...

History

In 1970, a group of University of Toronto graduate students produced mimeographed copies of the first issue of ''Descant'' for the Graduate English Association. Jane Shen was the first editor of ''Descant'' and

Karen Mulhallen Karen Mulhallen (born 1942 in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian educator, poet, essayist, critic and editor. She taught English at Ryerson University from 1967 to 2014. She served as the poetry review editor of The Canadian Forum from 1 ...

became the editor in 1973 for all subsequent issues. The magazine was run out of her home for the first six years she was editor; Managing Edito
Maria (Gould) Meindl
worked in Karen Mulhallen's home office for three years. ''Descant'' received

Charitable organizations (Canada) A charitable organization in Canada is regulated under the Canadian '' Income Tax Act'' through the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). There are more than 85,600 registered charities in Canada. The charitable sector employs ...

status in 1988. From 1972 until the last issue published in 2015, the magazine was

perfect bound Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, ...

. There are approximately 25 contributors per issue, in poetry, fiction and non-fiction, as well as visual artists in photography, painting and mixed media. A number of issues include a full-colour

gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatef ...

and, since issue No. 133, the magazine includes colour in the text as well. Several issues are double issues. Three of ''Descant'' magazine's special issues were also published as books: ''Views from the North'' ( The Porcupine's Quill, 1984; out of print); ''Patria'', by R. Murray Schafer (

Coach House Books Coach House Books is an independent book publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Coach House publishes experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundar ...

, 2002); and ''Tasks of Passion: Dennis Lee at Mid-career'' (Descant Editions, 1982). Four anthologies of student-teacher writing were published as part of ''Descants Students, Writers and Teachers (SWAT) outreach programme: ''Armadillo'' (2008), ''Barracuda'' (2009), ''Capybara'' (2011) and ''Dromedary'' (2011). In 1995,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

published ''Paper Guitar: 27 Writers Celebrate 25 Years of Descant Magazine'' including contributions from

, Rosemary Sullivan,

Timothy Findley Timothy Irving Frederick Findley Timothy Findley's
entry in

Alberto Manguel Alberto Manguel (born March 13, 1948, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-Canadian anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, editor, and a former Director of the National Library of Argentina. He is the author of numerous non-fiction books such ...

, Katherine Govier,

, Evelyn Lau and W. P. Kinsella. From 1993 until its close in 2015, the ''Descant'' office was located in the historic George Brown House (Toronto), at 50 Baldwin Avenue in Toronto. In December, 2014,

br>announced
that the magazine would be closing due to ongoing financial hardship.Deborah Dundas

''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', December 11, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2015. ''Descant'' ceased publication with its last issue in the winter of 2014, after 45 years of publication. The last issue, No. 167, ''In a Cabinet of Curiosities'', was launched in Toronto in January 2015. On March 25, 2015, ''Descant'' hosted a farewell party at Revival Bar in Toronto. The Master of Ceremonies was author

Antanas Sileika Antanas Sileika (Antanas Šileika; born 1953) is a Canadian-Lithuanian novelist and critic. Biography Sileika was born in 1953 in Weston, Ontario to Lithuanian-born parents. After completing an English degree at the University of Toronto, ...

, former ''Descant'' co-editor, and Director of the

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, commonly known as Humber College, is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has two main campuses: the Humber North c ...

School for Writers. ''Descant'' magazine maintains a limited social media presence through their website, blog and Twitter account.

Awards

The magazine won six Canadian National Magazine Awards: Silver, poetry (1983); Gold, fiction (1989); Silver, Editorial Package (1998); Silver, essays (2002); Gold, poetry (2007); Silver, fiction (2010). It was nominated for poetry (2003; finalist 2006) and received Honourable Mentions in 1996 (fiction), 1997 (fiction), 2003 (poetry), 2004 (essays; poetry) and 2006 (poetry; words and pictures). ''Descant'' is also the recipient of the Writers' Trust of Canada Journey Prize for fiction, (1995; nominee 1997 and 2003). In 2014, contributing writer Lori McNulty was shortlisted for the Journey Prize. In 1988, ''Descant'' magazine won the Litho Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Printing Industry.

Structure and operating grants

''Descant'' magazine was published by the ''Descant'' Arts and Letters Foundation, a legally separate entity with no editorial input into the magazine. A managing editor position was filled on a part-time basis. Design and technical support were employed on a contract basis. Submissions to the magazine were assessed by volunteers at open editorial meetings. Volunteer co-editors worked with interns and contract support to produce the magazine. Contributing editors to the magazine were
Kay Armatage
Mark Kingwell,

, and Rosemary Sullivan. Among other sources of financial support, ''Descant'' received the following operating grants from 1974 to 2014: * 1974–2011 Canada Council Operating Grants * 1974–2011 Ontario Arts Council Operating Grants * 2009–2014 Ontario Arts Council Operating Grants * 2009–2014 Canada Council Operating Grants

Literary outreach programmes

''Descant'' developed and received funding for a number of literary outreach programs: SWAT (students, writers and teachers workshops)
Operation Springboard
(writing workshops with young people in conflict with the law)
Now Hear This!
(literary workshops and support for at-risk youth; connected professional authors with community groups and aspiring student writers), and grief-writing workshops.

Winston Collins/''Descant'' Prize for Best Canadian Poem

This prize was awarded from 2007 to 2014. Winners and judges are listed on th
''Descant'' website
Each year two judges were chosen: one man and one woman, one living outside of Ontario, and neither one a published poet. Prize winners received CDN $1,000."Topic: Descant/Winston Collins Prize"
''Arc Poetry Magazine''. Retrieved June 4, 2015.

References

External links

* * ''Descant'
blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Descant (Magazine) 1970 establishments in Ontario 2015 disestablishments in Ontario Defunct literary magazines published in Canada English-language magazines Magazines established in 1970 Magazines disestablished in 2015 Magazines published in Toronto Quarterly magazines published in Canada