Viola M. Gale ( Håkansson; 1917 – 2007) was a Swedish-born American poet and publisher, who worked in the United States state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. She began writing poems and short stories that were published in minor magazines and reviews in the 1950s. Gale's first book was published in 1959, and released five more throughout her life. In 1974, she established the small printing house Prescott Street Press in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

to promote unknown authors and produce well-designed affordable books. One of Gale's works was selected by the

Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission The Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission (OCHC) is a non-profit organization based in the U.S. state of Oregon. The commission was formed in 1988 in order to discover and commemorate important literary and cultural contributions to Oregon's histor ...

to be one of 100 Oregon books from 1800 to 2000 that "best representing the state's literary heritage" in 2003.

Early life

Gale was born Viola Håkansson in 1917, in a rural village called Noret along Central Sweden's

Västerdal River Västerdalälven (literally ''West Dal River'') is a 300 km long river in Sweden that flows southeast through Dalarna. Its sources are Görälven and Fuluälven and the end point is Djurås, in the municipality of Gagnef, where it connect ...

Dalarna County Dalarna County ( sv, Dalarnas län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden (Svealand). It borders on the counties of Uppsala, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It also borders on the Norwegian counties of Hedmark ...

. She was the daughter of Erland G. Håkansson and Maria Håkansson. Gale had one brother. The family sold their belongings and moved to the United States in the final year of mass immigration from Sweden in 1923, when Gale was six years old. They came to the country via

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

, and settled in the Swedish community of

Clatskanie, Oregon Clatskanie is a city in Columbia County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the Tlatskanai Native American tribe, and the Clatskanie River which flows through the town and empties into the Columbia River about four miles to the north. The p ...

, where her father worked as a wood logger for

Simon Benson Simon Benson (September 9, 1851 – August 5, 1942) was a noted Norwegian-born American businessman and philanthropist who made his mark in the city of Portland, Oregon. Biography Background Simon Benson was born Simen Bergersen Klæve in th ...

. Following graduation from Clatskanie High School in 1934, she worked as the Clatskanie librarian, and sold bread. Gale left Clatskanie in 1940 and moved to

. She became an

naturalized United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...

that same year, and began to attend literature and writing courses at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocated to Portland in 1938 and in 1942 adopted the name Lewis & Cl ...

, and the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in the late 1940s.

Career

Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she found employment authoring product promotions and steadily started writing poems and short stories in the 1950s. Gale's work was published in minor magazines and reviews, and she won the Oregon Poetry Prize in 1954. In 1955, she met poet

May Sarton May Sarton was the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton (May 3, 1912 – July 16, 1995), a Belgian-American poet, novelist and memoirist. Although her best work is strongly personalised with erotic female imagery, she resisted the label of ‘lesbi ...

at a writer's conference at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

, and was encouraged by Sarton to continue writing poetry. Gale won the 1958 Swallow Press New Poetry Series Award. In 1959, she sent a poetry collection to publisher

Alan Swallow Alan Swallow (February 11, 1915 – November 27, 1966) was an American professor of English who created his own publishing imprint, Alan Swallow Press, and worked as editor and director of the University of Denver Press. Early life Born in P ...

, who became her mentor and brought out her first book, ''Several Houses'', that year. Gale's second book, ''Love Always'', followed six years later. Throughout the 1960s, she additionally connected with contemporaneously Swedish poetry and read it. Gale began teaching as director of creative writing workshops at the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

in 1962, was the writer-in-residence for Eastern Oregon College in 1968, and lectured at

Clatsop Community College Clatsop Community College (CCC) is a public community college with facilities in Astoria and Seaside, Oregon. The college's service area includes Clatsop County, portions of Columbia and Tillamook counties and Pacific and Wahkiakum counties i ...

in 1969. She authored ''Nineteen Ing Poems'' in 1970, then ''Clouded Sea'' a year later, and ''Clouded Sea'' in 1974''.'' In 1974, Gale established the small publishing house Prescott Street Press, to promote unknown authors and produce affordable books that were well-designed. The publishing house received initial support from grants by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and had national distribution and helped to begin the career of several writers. Her final writing of poems, ''Odd Flowers & Short-Eared Owls'', was self-published in 1984. Gale contributed to ''Colorado Quarterly'', ''December'', ''Kansas Magazine'', ''Midwest Quarterly Review'', ''Northwest Review'', ''Poetry Northwest'', ''Poetry (Chicago)'', ''Pacific Spectator'' among other publications. Her work was featured in the books ''Oregon Signatures'' in 1959, ''Golden Year: The Poetry Society of American Anthology'' in 1960, and ''NW Manuscript Poems'' in 1966.

Personal life

Gale married Jim Gale in 1942. She died in 2007, having lived the whole of her adult life in Oregon and having never went back to Sweden.

Method and legacy

The poems of Gale came from personal experiences and memories, with a few of them featuring Scandinavian recollections, and several displaying "a keen sense of place". She said she was highly encouraged by opening up American poetry by the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...

. Through Gale's career, she wrote in a more experimental and relaxed away from "the slightly formal feel of the strict stanzaic patterns in her early work". Her work, ''Several Houses'', was selected as one of 100 Oregon books from 1800 to 2000 by the

as "best representing the state's literary heritage" in 2003. In February 2008, a celebration of the life and career of Gale took place in Portland and attended by several poets. The Lewis & Clark College Special Collections and Archives holds a collection relating to Gale. They include her biographical information, personal correspondence, photographs, poetry manuscripts, and teaching materials connected to her life and other materials about Prescott Street Press.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gale, Vi 1917 births 2007 deaths People from Dalarna County Writers from Portland, Oregon Poets from Oregon Swedish emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States University of Colorado alumni Portland State University alumni Lewis & Clark College alumni University of Oregon alumni Eastern Oregon University faculty Swedish women poets 20th-century Swedish women writers 20th-century Swedish poets American women poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets Women book publishers (people) American book publishers (people) Swedish book publishers (people) American women academics