Frank Oliver Call

Frank Oliver Call
Born April 11, 1878
West Brome, Quebec
Died September 7, 1956
Knowlton, Quebec
Occupation poet, travel writer
Nationality Canadian
Period 1910s-1940s
Notable works Acanthus and Wild Grape, Sonnets for Youth, Blue Homespun

Frank Oliver Call (April 11, 1878 - September 7, 1956)[1] was a Canadian poet and academic.

Born in West Brome, Quebec,[2] Call was educated at Bishop's University, in Paris and Marburg and at McGill University, and was subsequently a professor of languages at Bishop's and McGill.[2]

His publications as a poet included In a Belgian Garden (1916), Acanthus and Wild Grape (1920), Blue Homespun (1924) and Sonnets for Youth (1944).[2] Acanthus and Wild Grape, his most famous work, was divided in two sections: Acanthus followed more traditional Victorian poetic styles, while Wild Grape was written as free verse.[2] As a result of that work, Call is seen as a bridge between early Canadian poets such as Bliss Carman, Archibald Lampman and Duncan Campbell Scott, and the modernist work of later poets such as E. J. Pratt and Dorothy Livesay.[2] More recent analysis has also concentrated on homoerotic themes in some of his writing, particularly in Sonnets for Youth,[3] although there is not currently sufficient biographical evidence to confirm whether Call ever actually identified as gay.[3]

In addition to writing poetry, Call published two volumes of travel writing, The Spell of French Canada (1926) and The Spell of Acadia (1930),[2] and a biography of Marguerite Bourgeoys.

Call won the Quebec Literary Competition Award in 1924 for Blue Homespun.[2] In addition, he was involved in Canadian Poetry Magazine, the Canadian Authors Association and PEN Canada.[2]

He died at Knowlton, Quebec in 1956.[2]

References

  1. ↑ W. H. New, Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press, 2002. ISBN 0802007619. p. 438.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frank Oliver Call at The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  3. 1 2 John Barton and Billeh Nickerson, eds. Seminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Male Poets. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2007. ISBN 1551522179.

External links


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