John Wesley Metcalf (born 12 November 1938) is an English-born Canadian writer, editor and critic.

Biographical

Metcalf was born in

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

, England on 12 November 1938.Cameron, Barry. "John Metcalf." Canadian Writers Since 1960 Second Series. Detroit:Gale Research Inc, 1987. His father, Thomas Metcalf, was a clergyman and his mother, Gladys Moore Metcalf, was a teacher. Metcalf immigrated to Canada in 1962. It was in Canada that he began to write. In 1975 he married Myrna Teitelbaum and now lives with her in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada. He has made extensive contributions to

Canadian literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both ge ...

through editing, teaching various educational levels across Canada, critiquing other writers, compiling anthologies and publishing and promoting Canadian writers. He is a "storyteller, editor, novelist, essayist, critic", and is known for his

satires Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

of Canadian life and academia.Davey, Frank. "Metcalf in Darkest Canada." Canadian Literature 185 (2005): 167–169. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 25 October 2010. His writing is rich in intense emotion invoking imagery, which he draws from his experiences as an educator in Canada. Many in his field view Metcalf as an

authority In the fields of sociology and political science, authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' is practiced in ways such a judicial branch or an executive branch of government.''The N ...

in writing and criticism.

Education

Metcalf gained an Honours Bachelor of Arts and a

Certificate in Education The Certificate in Education (Cert Ed) is a professional qualification for teachers in the United Kingdom. There have been two incarnations of the Cert Ed over the years. New Cert Ed The current Cert Ed is a non-compulsory qualification offering ...

from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, prior to his immigration to Canada.David O'Rourke and Kim Jernigan. "Metcalf, John."
The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Eugene Benson and William Toye. Oxford University Press 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Douglas College. Accessed 25 October 2010.

Writing career

His first attempt at writing fiction came when he entered the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

's Short Story Essay Contest which was followed by eight of his short stories being accepted by the Vancouver-based magazine ''Prism International''. He supplemented his writing career with teaching jobs. ''New Canadian Writing 1969'' included Metcalf's first published stories. They followed a common theme of young people coming of age. Metcalf used the coming-of-age theme, and the events that shape it, extensively throughout his works. His first novella, ''The Lady Who Stole Furniture'', was published in 1970, shortly after ''New Canadian Writing 1969''. The narrator deals with the

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of cond ...

and

integrity Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Inte ...

of his

intimate relationship An intimate relationship is an interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Although an intimate relationship is commonly a sexual relationship, it may also be a non-sexual relationship involving family, friends, or ...

with an older woman. This novella first showcased Metcalf's "skill with dialogue, the idiom and rhythms of speech", which is seen in most of his work. Many of his works follow

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

modeled after himself, many are young English teachers who have immigrated to Canada and are displeased with the state of the

educational system The educational system generally refers to the structure of all institutions and the opportunities for obtaining education within a country. It includes all pre-school institutions, starting from family education, and/or early childhood education ...

."John Metcalf." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol 37. Detroit: Gale Research Inc, 1986. His first novel ''Going Down Slow'' follows a young teacher as described above as he deals with

in the

workplace A workplace is a location where someone Work (human activity), works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a Small office/home office, home office to a large office building or factory. For Indust ...

, and his second novel, ''General Ludd'', describes a similar character, fighting the implementation of

communications technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computers, ...

in his workplace. ''The Teeth of My Father'' is a collection of short stories with the common

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

of artists' relationships with society and their artwork and personal life. This

was followed by, and extended in Metcalf's ''Adult Entertainment''. ''Girl in Gingham'' is a collection of two novellas. The first, ''Private Parts'', chronicles one narrator's "sexual and spiritual childhood and adolescence". The second, ''Girl in Gingham'', follows another narrator's search for the perfect mate via an

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, with the undertone being his realization of people trying to invent themselves to fit what others want, or the ideals of their culture. Short story and Novella forms are Metcalf's preferred form of writing. Metcalf describes that when writing these forms "you got to get it dead right. A beat or two off and it's ruined." Metcalf is a long-time critic of Canadian "cultural and educational inadequacies", and published ''Kicking Against the Pricks'' in 1982 to showcase this frustration. It was a collection of 8 essays and included an

interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

with himself. To encourage

debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...

on this theme within the literary community, he published ''The Bumper Book'' in 1986 and followed it with ''Carry On Bumping'' in 1988. Both collections consisted of contentious essays focussing on problems with Canadian literature. In an interview with Geoff Hancock, Metcalf asserted that "the quality of the education has declined everywhere over the last 50 years as the number to be educated has risen". He is in "conflict with the dominant nature of

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

society" and the influence it has on education.

Awards

''Forde Abroad'' won the 1996 Gold Medal for Fiction at the National Magazine Awards. ''The Estuary'' won

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

's President's Medal for the Best Story of 1969. Metcalf was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2004.

Selected works

* ''The Lady Who Sold Furniture'', 1970 * ''Going Down Slow'', 1972 * ''The Teeth of My Father'', 1975 * ''Girl in Gingham'', 1978 * ''General Ludd'', 1981 * ''Kicking Against the Pricks'', 1982 * ''Selected Stories'', 1982 * ''Adult Entertainment'', 1986 * ''What is a Canadian Literature?'', 1988 * ''Shooting the Stars'', 1992 * ''Freedom from Culture'', 1993 * ''An Aesthetic Underground: A Literary Memoir'', 2003 * ''Forde Abroad'', 2003 * ''Standing Stones'', 2004 * ''Shut Up He Explained: A Literary Memoir Volume II'', 2007 * ''The Museum at the End of the World'', 2016

Sources

External links

John Metcalf's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metcalf, John 1938 births Canadian male short story writers Canadian literary critics Living people Canadian male novelists Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers