Two Canadian Writers of Multi-volume Fiction:
Robertson Davies and Margaret Laurence
7:00 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009
Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall
Admission: free

Multi-volume fiction with recurring characters and relating to a recurring locale is by no means uniquely Canadian. Think of American writers such as Mark Twain and William Faulkner, or world authors such as Marcel Proust, or Canadians such as Lucy Maud Montgomery. Robertson Davies wrote three trilogies; three of Margaret Laurence’s novels and a collection of her short stories are known collectively as “The Manawaka Novels.” The presentation will focus on Davies (1913-1995) and Laurence (1926-1987), two of Canada’s best-known authors.

Robert Beckett, emeritus professor of English at Missouri State University, taught there from 1963 until 1998. From 1985 until his retirement, he taught at least one course in Canadian literature each year, because one of the conditions of help from the Canadian government for his Fall 1984 sabbatical was that he and his home university would agree to offer such a course each of year after his return. Dr. Beckett taught and came to admire Canadian literature, and he served one year as president of the Midwest Association for Canadian Studies. During his sabbatical he interviewed many Canadian writers and teachers of Canadian literature and formed lasting friendships.