Alden Nowlan
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Alden Nowlan
(1933–83). Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, he began working at fifteen in lumbermills and on farms. He completed his formal education at eighteen and left Nova Scotia for New Brunswick, where he became editor of the Hartland Observer and night-news editor of the Saint John Telegraph-Journal. Beginning to publish poetry and short stories in the mid-1950s, he was honoured with a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Governor General's Award (for Bread, wine and salt, 1967), and a Doctor of Letters from the University of New Brunswick. From 1969 he was writer-in-residence at the University of New Brunswick.
From the publication of Nowlan's first collection of verse, The rose and the Puritan (1958), his poetry was consistent in style and theme. The bulk of his poems are short anecdotal lyrics, conversational in tone and frequently directed towards some moral perception. He wrote chiefly about small-town New Brunswick, the constricted lives of its inhabitants, and the complexity of his own role as its compassionately observing poet—indicated by the title of his selected poems, Playing the Jesus game (1970); like Christ, Nowlan found that he must not only pity and forgive his fellow humans, but share personally their limitations and tragedies. Nowlan's emphasis on the essential innocence and helplessness of his variously benighted characters—escapist, credulous, treacherous, adulterous, murderous, insane—gives to many of his poems a suggestion of sentimentality that the poet must work to dispel through realistic imagery and colloquial dialogue. Nowlan's other collections of poetry are A darkness in the earth (1959), Under the ice (1960), Wind in a rocky country (1961), The things which are (1962), The mysterious naked man (1969), Between tears and laughter (1971), I'm a stranger here myself (1974), Smoked glass (1977), and I might not tell everybody this (1982).
In his later years Nowlan began writing in a number of other genres. His autobiographical novel Various persons named Kevin O'Brien (1973), recounts his childhood struggle against poverty in an ambitious, though not entirely successful, juxtaposition of adult and child viewpoints. The collection of short stories Miracle at Indian River (1968)—technically less interesting than the novel—offers close-up views of the economically oppressed characters who populate much of his poetry. In the 1970s Nowlan collaborated with Walter Learning to write three stage plays: Frankenstein (1976), The incredible murder of Cardinal Tosca (1978), and The dollar woman (1981). Nowlan also wrote a travel book, Campobello, the outer island (1975), and collected twenty-seven of his magazine articles in Double exposure (1978). The following titles were published posthumously: Alden Nowlan, early poems (1983); Will ye let the mummers in? (stories, 1984); An exchange of gifts: poems new and selected edited by Robert Gibbs (1985); The wanton troopers (novel, 1988); The best of Alden Nowlan (1993) edited by Allison Mitcham; and Alden Nowlan: selected poems (1995) edited by Patrick Lane and Lorna Crozier. Nine Micmac legends, children's stories, was published in 1983.
(See Michael Oliver, Poet's progress: the development of Alden Nowlan's poetry (1978), and) (Fred Cogswell, ‘Alden Nowlan as regional atavist’, Studies in Canadian literature 2 (1986).): 2.
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Alden Nowlan
Alden Albert Nowlan (January 25, 1933 - June 27, 1983) was a critically acclaimed Canadian poet, novelist, and playwright
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History
Alden Nowlan was born into rural poverty in Stanley, Nova Scotia, adjacent to Mosherville, and close to the small town of Windsor, Nova Scotia, along a stretch of dirt road that he would later refer to as Desolation Creek. His father, Gordon Freeman Nowlan, worked sporadically as a manual labourer.
His mother, Grace Reese, was only 15 years of age when Nowlan was born, and she soon left the family, leaving Alden and her younger daughter Harriet, to the care of their paternal grandmother. The family discouraged education as a waste of time, and Nowlan left school after only four grades. At the age of 14, he went to work in the village sawmill. At the age of 16, Nowlan discovered the regional library. Each weekend he would walk or hitchhike eighteen miles to the library to get books, and secretly began to educate himself. "I wrote (as I read) in secret." Nowlan remembered. "My father would as soon have seen me wear lipstick."
Career & Later Life
At 19, Nowlan's artfully embroidered résumé landed him a job with Observer, a newspaper in Hartland, New Brunswick. While working at the Observer, Nowlan began writing books of poetry, the first of which was published by Fredericton's Fiddlehead Poetry Books.
Nowlan eventually settled permanently in New Brunswick. In 1963, he married Claudine Orser, a typesetter on his former paper, and moved to Saint John with her and her son, John, whom he adopted. He became the night editor for the Saint John Telegraph Journal and continued to write poetry. In 1967, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, and his collection Bread, Wine and Salt was awarded the Governor General's Award for Poetry.
In 1966, Nowlan was diagnosed with throat cancer. His health forced him to give up his job, but at the same time the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton offered him the position of Writer-in-Residence. He remained in the position until his death on June 27, 1983.
Awards and recognition
Nowlan's most notable literary achievements include the Governor General's Award for Bread, Wine and Salt (1967) and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He took over the job Writer-in-Residence at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton from close friend Warren Kinthompson in 1968 and kept it until his death in 1983. He has a provincial poetry award named in his honour.
Nowlan is one of Canada's most popular 20th-century poets, and his appearance in the anthology Staying Alive (2002) has helped to spread his popularity beyond Canada.
In the 1970s, Nowlan met and became close friends with theatre director Walter Learning. The two collaborated on a number of plays, including A Gift to Last, Frankenstein, The Dollar Woman, and The Incredible Murder of Cardinal Tosca.
Nowlan's Fredericton home is now the residence of the Graduate Student Association at the University of New Brunswick. It is called the Alden Nowlan House.
Nowlan is buried in the Poets' Corner of the Forest Hill cemetery in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Bibliography
Poetry
- A Darkness in the Earth. Eureka, California: Hearse, 1958.
- The Rose and the Puritan. Fredericton, N.B.: University of New Brunswick, 1958.
- Wind in A Rocky Country. Toronto: Emblem, 1960.
- Under the Ice. Toronto: Ryerson, 1961.
- Five New Brunswick Poets. Fredericton, N.B.: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1962. (with Elizabeth Brewster, Fred Cogswell, Robert Gibbs and Kay Smith)
- The Things Which Are. Toronto: Contact, 1962.
- Bread, Wine and Salt. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1967.
- A Black Plastic Button and a Yellow Yoyo, handmade limited edition folio of 20 copies, printed and illustrated by Charles Pachter, Toronto 1968
- The Mysterious Naked Man. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1969.
- Playing the Jesus Game: Selected Poems. Trumansburg, N.Y.: New/Books, 1970.
- Between Tears and Laughter. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1971.
- I’m a Stranger Here Myself. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1974.
- Shaped by This Land. Fredericton: Brunswick, 1974.
- Smoked Glass. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1977.
- I Might Not Tell Everybody This. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1982.
- Early Poems. Fredericton, N.B.: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1983.
- An Exchange of Gifts: Poems New and Selected". Toronto: Irwin, 1985.
- What Happened When He Went to the Store for Bread. Minneapolis: Nineties Press, 1993.
- The Best of Alden Nowlan. Hantsport, N.S.: Lancelot, 1993.
- Alden Nowlan: Selected Poems. Toronto: House of Anansi, 1996.
- Between Tears and Laughter Tarset, Northumberland, U.K.: Bloodaxe, 2004. ISBN 1-85224-629-4
- The Execution, Sunburst, Scarborough, Ontario, 1982
- Helen's Scar
- The Bull Moose
- I, Icarus
Fiction
- Miracle at Indian River. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1968.
- Various Persons Named Kevin O’Brien. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1973.
- Will Ye Let the Mummers In. Toronto: Irwin, 1984.
- The Wanton Troopers. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 1988.
- The Glass Roses*
Drama
- Frankenstein: The Man Who Became God - Clarke, Irwin, Toronto 1973 (with Walter Learning)
- The Dollar Woman - Playwrights Co-op, Toronto 1981 (with Walter Learning)
- The Incredible Murder of Cardinal Tosca - Dramatic Publishing, 1978 (with Walter Learning)
- A Gift to Last (with Walter Learning) from the teleplay by Gordon Pinsent
- Gardens of the Wind - (CBC radio broadcast) Saskatoon: Thistledown, 1982.
Non-fiction
- Campobello: The Outer Island. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin, 1975.
- Double Exposure. Fredericton, N.B.: Brunswick Press, 1978.
- Nine Micmac Legends. Hantsport, N.S.: Lancelot, 1983.
- White Madness. Ottawa: Oberon, 1996.
- Road Dancers. Ottawa: Oberon, 1999.
Anthologies
- 15 Canadian Poets X3, ed. Gary Geddes (Oxford University Press, 2001)
- Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada, ed. Anne Compton, Laurence Hutchman, Ross Leckie and Robin McGrath (Goose Lane Editions, 2002)
References
- New, W. H., ed. The Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. p. 835-837.
- Williamson, Margie. Four Maritime Poets: a survey of the works of Alden Nowlan, Fred Cogswell, Raymond Fraser and Al Pittman, as they reflect the spirit and culture of the Maritime people. Thesis (M.A.), Dalhousie University, 1973 [microform].
Further reading
- Raymond Fraser. When The Earth Was Flat: Remembering Leonard Cohen, Alden Nowlan, the Flat Earth Society, the King James monarchy hoax, the Montreal Story Tellers and other curious matters. 2007. (ISBN 978-0-88753-439-3)
- Patrick Toner. If I Could Turn and Meet Myself: The Life of Alden Nowlan Goose Lane Editions, 2000. (ISBN 978-0-86492-265-6)
- Gregory M. Cook. One Heart, One Way: Alden Nowlan, A Writer's Life Pottersfield Press, 2003. (ISBN 1-895900-59-X)
- Alden Nowlan: Essays on His Works Guernica Editions, 2006.(ISBN 978-1-55071-234-6)
- Alden Nowlan and Class by Thomas R. Smith
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