Sad news. Jay Macpherson,
a poet of eccentric genius, and one of Canada’s greatest writers, has died. Evan Jones and I quickly agreed she was one
of only a handful of poets who definitely had to be included in our 2010
anthology for Carcanet, Modern Canadian Poets.
Born in June 1931 in England, she remained a quasi-reclusive figure for most of her adult life, albeit a
professor at the University of Toronto.
It remains a mystery to me as to why she is not known as one of the last
centuries best poets – her work was as
if Stevie Smith had the academic mind of Northrop Frye. Her style – quirky, mythic, brilliantly lyric
and concise, inspired me when I began writing.
She showed it was possible to write intelligent, elegant, sophisticated
formal poems in Canada.
Comments