John Sutherland (21 February 1919 – 1 September 1956) 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 ...

poet,

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

, and

magazine editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

W. H. New William Herbert New (born March 28, 1938) is a Canadian poet and literary critic. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was educated at John Oliver Secondary School, where he received one of the top matriculation exam scores in British Columbi ...

, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada.'' Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002: 1079-80. . Although he published numerous poems of his own, he was perhaps better known as the founder and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of two important Canadian

literary magazines 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, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters ...

, ''

First Statement ''First Statement'' was a Canadian literary magazine published in Montreal, Quebec from 1942 to 1945. During its short life the magazine, along with its rival publication ''Preview'' with which it often shared contributors, provided one of the few ...

'' and '' Northern Review''. He was the half-brother of actor

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

and brother of the painter and poet Betty Sutherland (Boschka Layton, wife of poet Irving Layton). Before his death from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, Sutherland also published the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

''Other Canadians: An Anthology of New Poetry in Canada, 1940–46'', a collection of Canadian

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

poetry, and one of the first critical studies of the poetry of

E. J. Pratt Edwin John Dove Pratt (February 4, 1882 – April 26, 1964), who published as E. J. Pratt, was "the leading Canadian poet of his time."

. Sutherland was also instrumental in exposing the poetry of Irving Layton to a wider audience, thanks to the Sutherland-owned First Statement Press, the

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

that issued Layton's first book, ''Here and Now''. In 1943, Sutherland published a review of Patrick Anderson's poetry in ''First Statement'' which suggested

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...

themes in his writing, and accusing Anderson of "some sexual experience of a kind not normal"; although Anderson would in fact come out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

later in life, he was married at the time to Peggy Doernbach, and threatened to sue. John Barton and Billeh Nickerson, eds. ''Seminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Male Poets''.

Arsenal Pulp Press Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, focusing primarily on underrepresented genres such as und ...

, 2007. . Sutherland printed a retraction in the following issue.John Sutherland, "Retraction". ''First Statement'', 1.20 (1943): cover. The incident was little known outside of Montreal at the time, as both ''First Statement'' and Anderson's rival magazine ''Preview'' had small, primarily local circulations, although it would come to be more extensively analyzed in the 1990s as an important incident in the history of

LGBT literature LGBT literature may refer to: * Lesbian literature * Gay literature * Bisexual literature * Transgender literature * Or any other literature featuring the LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, ...

in Canada. Sutherland would also come to be known for an apparent feud with poet A. J. M. Smith, with ''Other Canadians'' being perceived as a direct riposte to Smith's anthology ''The Book of Canadian Poetry''.

References

1919 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Canadian literary critics Writers from Montreal Canadian magazine editors 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Deaths from cancer in Canada {{Canada-poet-stub