Letters in Canada: 1950

J.:!,tters in Canada: I950 Edited by J. R. MACGILLIVRAY THE QUARTERLY'S sixteenth annual survey of "Letters in Canada" follows the general plan of other years. It is intended that the check-lists be as complete as possible, within our chosen range; the critical surveys, because of the number of books and the strictly limited amount of space for comment, must be selective and as brief as possible. Once more it has been found necessary to hold over the essays on French-Canadian and New-Canadian letters until the July number. I would again express my thanks to the publishers of Canadian books for their co-operation in this enterprise; to the University of Toronto Library for assistance; to Miss Francess Halpenny, Assistant Editor of the University of Toronto Press, for searching out and collecting books and preparing all the check-lists, except President KirkconneIl's for "New-Canadian Letters"; and to all the contributors to the survey who have to do this extra reading and writing at the busiest season of tbe year for mnst of them. For the first time since "Letters in Canada" was inaugurated, E. K. Brown's name does not appear at the head of the first essay, on poetry. Last autumn he wrote me that he would have to drop out because he wanted to give all the time he could towards completing the book on which he was engaged. Very few of his friends knew, as he did, that there was not much time left. By his death, on April 23, the QUARTERLY lost a friend of long standing. He wrote an article for the first volume (1932), and frequently afterwards. He was Associate Editor for many years, and kept up a close connection with the QUARTERLY after heleft this university. He was a distinguished contributor to "Letters in Canada" and also, one need hardly add, to Canadian letters. I would, finally, express my thanks to Professor Northrop Frye for agreeing to take over the survey of poetry. PART I: ENGLISH-CANADIAN LETTERS I. POETRY NORTHROP FRYE Readers of Canadian poetry will often have seen the name of Mr. James Wreford, both in literary periodicals and in the fine little anthology of a few years back, Unit of Five. A collection of his verse, 257 ...