Gwendolyn Margaret MacEwen (1 September 1941 – 29 November 1987) was a Canadian poet and novelist.Gwendolyn MacEwen
" NNDB.com Web, 24 April 2011. A "sophisticated, wide-ranging and thoughtful writer," she published more than 20 books in her life. "A sense of magic and mystery from her own interests in the

Gnostics Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

, Ancient Egypt and

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

itself, and from her wonderment at life and death, makes her writing unique.... She's still regarded by most as one of the best Canadian poets."

Life

MacEwen was born in Toronto, Ontario."Gwendolyn MacEwen: Biography
, Canadian Poetry Online, Web, 23 April 2011. Her mother, Elsie, spent much of her life as a patient in mental health institutions. Her father, Alick, suffered from alcoholism.
," Canadian Poetry Online, Web, 24 April 2011. Gwendolyn MacEwen grew up in the High Park area of the city, and attended Western Technical-Commercial School. MacEwan's first poem was published in ''The Canadian Forum'' when she was only 17, and she left school at 18 to pursue a writing career. By 18 she had written her first novel, ''Julian the Magician.''John Oughton,
Gwendolyn MacEwen
," Young Soul Rebels, YoungPoets.ca, Web, 24 April 2011. "She was small (5'4") and slight, with a round pale face, huge blue eyes usually rimmed in

kohl Kohl may refer to: *Kohl (cosmetics), an ancient eye cosmetic *Kohl (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. ...

(Egyptian eye shadow), and long dark straight hair." Her first book of poetry, ''The Drunken Clock'', was published in 1961 in Toronto,. then the centre of a literary revival in Canada, encouraged by the editor Robert Weaver and influential teacher Northrop Frye. MacEwen was thus in touch with

James Reaney James Crerar Reaney, (September 1, 1926 – June 11, 2008) was a Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol." Reaney won Canada's highest literary a ...

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, nin ...

, Dennis Lee, etc. She married poet

Milton Acorn Milton James Rhode Acorn (March 30, 1923 – August 20, 1986), nicknamed ''The People's Poet'' by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. Early life He was born in Prince Edward Island, and grew up in Charlottetown. He joined the ...

, 19 years her senior, in 1962, although they divorced two years later. She published over twenty books, in a variety of genres. She also wrote numerous radio docudramas for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), including a "much-admired radio drama", ''Terror and Erebus'', in 1965 which featured music by

Terry Rusling Terry Rusling (April 2, 1931 – November 27, 1974) was a Canadian electronic music composer, who used graphic notation. Some of his works were used to accompany radio and television broadcasts. Introduction to electronic composition Terry ...

. With her second husband, Greek musician Niko Tsingos, MacEwen opened a Toronto coffeehouse, The Trojan Horse, in 1972. She and Tsingos translated some of the poetry of contemporary Greek writer Yiannis Ritsos (published in her 1981 book ''Trojan Women''). She taught herself to read Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and French, and translated writers from each of those languages. In 1978 her translation of Euripides' drama ''The Trojan Women'' was first performed in Toronto.Michaela Milde
Review of Euripides' ''Trojan Women''
Didaskalia I:1, Web, 22 April 2011. Gwendolyn MacEwen sculpture, Gwendolyn MacEwen Park

Gwendolyn MacEwen sculpture, Gwendolyn MacEwen Park

She served as writer in residence at the University of Western Ontario in 1985, and the University of Toronto in 1986 and 1987. During the last years of her life she was in a relationship with street writer

Crad Kilodney Crad Kilodney (1948 – April 14, 2014) was the pen name of Lou Trifon, an American-born Canadian writer who lived in Toronto, Ontario. He was best known for selling his self-published books (often with outrageous titles such as ''Bloodsucking Mo ...

(Lou Trifon). MacEwen died in 1987, at the age of 46, of health problems related to alcoholism. She is buried in Toronto's Mount Pleasant Cemetery."Our Poets at Rest: Gwendolyn MacEwen," ''Arc'', 15 Nov. 2010, Web, 22 April 2011.

Writing

"A sophisticated, wide-ranging and thoughtful writer," says '' The Canadian Encyclopedia'', MacEwen "displayed a commanding interest in magic and history as well as an elaborate and penetrating dexterity in her versecraft.""MacEwen, Gwendolyn," ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1264. Her two novels – ''Julian the Magician'', dealing with the ambiguous relationship between the hermetic philosophies of the early Renaissance and Christianity; and ''King of Egypt, King of Dreams,'' which imaginatively reconstructed the life and religious reformation of

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

pharaoh Akhenaton – blend fantasy and history.

Recognition

MacEwen won the Governor General's Award in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

for her poetry collection ''The Shadow Maker''. She was awarded a second Governor General's Award posthumously in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

for ''Afterworlds''. Other awards and prizes MacEwen won include the CBC New Canadian Writing Contest for poetry in 1965; the

A.J.M. Smith Arthur James Marshall Smith (November 8, 1902 – November 21, 1980) was a Canadian poet and anthologist. He "was a prominent member of a group of Montreal poets" – the Montreal Group, which included Leon Edel, Leo Kennedy, A. M. Klei ...

Poetry Award in 1973; the Borestone Mountain Poetry Award in 1983; the CBC Literary Competition, for short story in 1983; and the Du Maurier Awards, gold and silver for poetry, in 1983.Gendolyn MacEwen: Awards and Honours
" Canadian Poetry Online, 24 April 2011. Her writing has been translated into many languages including

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

, French, German, and Italian. Rosemary Sullivan published a biography of MacEwen, ''Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen'', in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, which itself won the Governor General's Award, for non-fiction in

. Fictional tributes to MacEwen have been published by

(the short story "Isis in Darkness"), and Lorne S. Jones (the novel ''Mighty Oaks''). A one-woman play by Linda Griffiths, ''Alien Creature: A Visitation from Gwendolyn MacEwen,'' won the

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped estab ...

and the Chalmers Award in 2000."Alien Creature: A Visitation from Gwendolyn MacEwen," LindaGriffiths.ca, Web, 24 April 2011. A documentary film by

Brenda Longfellow Brenda Longfellow (born 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker known for her biographies of female historic figures. Since 2007, Longfellow's focus in her films has been on environmental issues. Biography Brenda Longfellow was born in Copper Cliff, On ...

, ''Shadow Maker: Gwendolyn MacEwen, Poet'', was made in 1998 and won the

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

for Best Short Documentary.

Gwendolyn MacEwen Park

The former Walmer Road Park, in The Annex neighbourhood of Toronto, was renamed Gwendolyn MacEwen Park in her honor in 1994. On 9 September 2006, a bronze bust of MacEwen by her friend, sculptor John McCombe Reynolds, was unveiled in the park. The park had been a grassy traffic circle in the middle of Walmer Road at Lowther Avenue, but a $300,000 makeover in 2010, expanded the park and narrowed the surrounding roads. The unique redesigned greenspace reopened 21 July 2010, and writer Claudia Dey read one of MacEwen's poems.

Publications

Poetry

* ''Selah''. Toronto: Aleph Press,

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. * ''The Drunken Clock''. Toronto: Aleph Press,

. * ''The Rising Fire''. Toronto: Contact Press,

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

. * ''Terror and Erebus'' (1965) * ''A Breakfast for Barbarians''. Toronto: Ryerson Press,

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. * ''The Shadow-Maker''. Toronto: Macmillan,

. * ''The Armies of the Moon'' . Toronto: Macmillan,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

. * ''Magic Animals: Selected Poems Old and New''. Toronto: Macmillan,

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. * ''Trojan Women,''

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. * ''The Fire-Eaters''. Ottawa: Oberon Press,

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

. * ''The T. E. Lawrence Poems''. Oakville: Mosaic Press,

. * ''Earth-Light: Selected Poetry 1963-1982''. Toronto: General Publishing,

. * ''The Man with Three Violins''

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

HMS Press (Toronto) * ''Afterworlds''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,

. * Atwood, Margaret and Barry Callaghan, eds. ''The Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen
The Early Years (Volume One)
'. Toronto: Exile Editions,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. * Atwood, Margaret and Barry Callaghan, eds. ''The Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen
The Later Years (Volume Two)
'. Toronto: Exile Editions, 1993. *

Fiction

* * * ''Noman''. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1972. * ''Noman's Land: stories'' Coach House Press, 1985.

Non-fiction

* ''Mermaids and Ikons: A Greek Summer''. Toronto: House of Anansi, 1978.

Children's books

* ''The Chocolate Moose''. Toronto: N/C Press, 1979. * ''The Honey Drum''. Oakville: Mosaic Press, 1983. * ''Dragon Sandwiches'' Black Moss Press, 1987.

Drama

*''Trojan Women'' after the play by Euripides (includes poems ''Helen'' and ''Oristos'' by Yannis Ritsos, translated by MacEwen and Niko Tsingos)''.'' Toronto: Exile Editions. 2009 994, 1981 978-1-55096-123-2 *''The Birds'' after the play by Aristophanes. Toronto: Exile Editions. 1993 983 978-1-55096-065-5 ''Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy of Brock University.''Gwendolyn MacEwen
" Canadian Women Poets, BrockU.ca, Web, 22 April 2001.

Discography

*''Open Secret.'' CBC Learning Systems, 1972. LP T-57191 *''Celebration: Famous Canadian Poets CD''

Canadian Poetry Association 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 ...

– 2001 (CD#3) ( with

Raymond Souster Raymond Holmes Souster (January 15, 1921 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian poet whose writing career spanned over 70 years. More than 50 volumes of his own poetry were published during his lifetime, and he edited or co-edited a dozen volumes ...

)

References

Books

* Jan Bartley. ''Invocations: the poetry and prose of Gwendolyn MacEwen.'' 1983. * Mª Luz González-Rodríguez. ''Bajo el Signo del Dios Mercurio: dicotomía del ser y fusión de los opuestos en Gwendolyn MacEwen''. Ph. Thesis. Departamento de Filología Inglesa y Alemana, Universidad de La Laguna,2003, . http://riull.ull.es/xmlui/handle/915/9951 * Rosemary Sullivan. ''Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen.'' Toronto: Harper Collins, 1995. * Linda Weiland: ''«Unravelling».

C.G. Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, phi ...

s Individuations- und Archetypenlehre im Werk Gwendolyn MacEwens.'' Peter Lang, Berne 2013 (In German)

Articles

* Atwood, Margaret. "MacEwen's Muse." ''Canadian Literature'' 45 (1970): 24–32. * Barrett, Elizabeth. "A Tour de Force." ''Evidence'' 8 (1964): 140–143. * Davey, Frank. "Gwendolyn MacEwen: The Secret of Alchemy." ''Open Letter'' (second series) 4 (1973): 5–23. * Di Michele, Mary. "Gwendolyn MacEwen: 1941-1987." ''Books in Canada'' 17.1 (1988): 6. * Eso, David. "Perfect Mismatch: Gwendolyn MacEwen and the Flat Earth Society." ''Studies in Canadian Literature'' 44.2 (2019): 211–231. * Gerry, Thomas M. "Green Yet Free of Seasons: Gwendolyn MacEwen and the Mystical Tradition of Canadian Poetry." ''Studies in Canadian Literature'' 16.2 (1991/1992): 147–161. * Gillam, Robyn. "The Gaze of a Stranger: Gwendolyn MacEwen's Hieratic Eye." ''Paragraph'' 13.2 (1991): 10–13. * Godfrey, Dave. "Figments of a Northern Mind." ''Tamarack Review'' 31 (1964): 90–91. * González-Rodríguez, Mª Luz. "Caronte y la Luna: arquetipos míticos en The Armies of the Moon de Gwendolyn MacEwen." ''Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses'' 48 (2004): 179–192. * González-Rodríguez, Mª Luz. "El camino arquetípico del héroe: el Mago y el Sumo Sacerdote en las novelas de Gwendolyn MacEwen." ''Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses'' 39 (1999): 307–321. * González-Rodríguez, Mª Luz. "The Presence of Science in Gwendolyn MacEwen's Cosmic Vision: An Ephemeral Creation of Order out of Chaos." ''Exchanges between Literature and Science from the 1800s to the 2000s. Converging Realms''. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017, pp. 90–103. . * Gose, E.B. "They Shall Have Arcana." ''Canadian Literature'' 21 (1964): 36–45. * Harding Russell, Gillian. "Gwendolyn MacEwen's 'The Nine Arcana of the Kings' as Creative Myth and Paradigm." ''English Studies in Canada'' 15.2 (1988): 204–217. * Harding Russell, Gillian. "Iconic Mythopoeia in MacEwen's The T.E. Lawrence Poems." ''Studies in Canadian Literature'' 9.1 (1984): 95–107. * Helwig, Maggie. "The Shadowmaker Confirmed the Poet in Me." ''Catholic New Times'' 21.19 (1997): 13,14. * Jones, D.G. "Language of Our Time." ''Canadian Literature'' 29 (1966): 67–69. * Kelly, M. T. "Thoughts From a Friend (Profile of Gwendolyn MacEwen)." ''Canadian Woman Studies'' 9.2 (1988): 89. * Kemp, Penn. "A Musing I Would Like to have Shared with Gwendolyn MacEwen."'' Tessera'' 5 (1988): 49–57. * "MacEwen Possessed a Talent that was Fragile, Precocious." ''Globe and Mail'' (Metro Edition) 2 Dec 1987: A10, C5. * Marshall, Joyce. "Remembering Gwendolyn MacEwen." ''Brick'' 45 (1993): 61–65. * Marshall, Tom. "Several Takes on Gwendolyn MacEwen." ''Quarry'' 38.1 (1989): 76–83. * "Obituary: Author." Gwendolyn MacEwen. ''Quill and Quire'' 54.3 (1988): 62. * Potvin, Elisabeth. "Gwendolyn MacEwen and Female Spiritual Desire." ''Canadian Poetry'' 28 (1991): 18–39. * Purdy, Al. "Death in the Family." ''Saturday Night'' 103.5 (1988): 65–66. * Ringrose, Christopher. "Vision Enveloped in Night." ''Canadian Literature'' 53 (1972): 102–104. * Sowton, Ian. "To Improvise an Eden." ''Edge'' 2 (1964): 119–124. * Tsingos, Nikolas. "Poems for Gwendolyn MacEwen." ''Descant'' 24.4 (1993/ 1994): 41. * Warwick, Ellen D. "To Seek a Single Symmetry." ''Canadian Literature'' 71 (1976): 21–34. * Wilkinson, Shelagh. "Gwendolyn MacEwen's Trojan Women: Old Myth into New Life." ''Canadian Woman Studies'' 8.3 (1987): 81–83. * Wood, Brent. "From The Rising Fire to Afterworlds: The Visionary Circle in the Poetry of Gwendolyn MacEwen." ''Canadian Poetry'' 47 (2000): 40–69.

Notes

External links

*
Dark Pines (TV Movie)

- Biography and 7 poems (Let Me Make This Perfectly Clear, Fragments from A Childhood, Magic Cats, Poems in Braille, Memoirs of a Mad Cook, The Drunken Clock, Dark Pines Under Water) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macewen, Gwendolyn 1941 births 1987 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian women novelists Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian women poets Governor General's Award-winning poets Writers from Toronto University of Toronto people 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers