I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to the donors of the Dean of Arts Development Fund (DADF). I am an undergraduate student in Honours English Literature and Political Science at McGill, with a particular interest in questions of place and local history. Passionate about Montreal’s unique poetic history, I was drawn to Poetry Matters due to its emphasis on poetic community and networks of exploration. An initiative based out of McGill’s English Department, Poetry Matters aims at fostering conversations surrounding the history of poetry at 51³Ô¹ÏÍøand in Montreal.
Alongside my co-intern, Sean Chen, I’ve spent the summer researching the poet Patrick Anderson, who taught in Montreal during the 1940s. Through McGill’s Rare Books and Special Collections, much of our initial work focused on five notebooks of unpublished draft materials from Anderson’s sabbatical in Saint-Sauveur. Each notebook contained a series of new discoveries, from poems and stories to intriguing drawings in pen, pencil, and watercolor. Under the supervision of Dr. Miranda Hickman, the director of Poetry Matters and Professor of English at McGill, Sean and I learned about archival research and the role of the little magazines Preview and First Statement in Canadian modernism.
A snapshot of the table of contents Sean and I created for navigating Anderson’s notebooks.
A highlight of my internship was a trip taken to Ottawa’s Library and Archives Canada, to access the Patrick John McAllister Anderson Fonds. For the first time, beyond the notebooks, Sean and I were able to sift through Patrick Anderson’s scrapbook (a wealth of pictures from his life), his journals and further draft materials. The sheer span of the archival material left me surprised and moved. In fading green cloth, one notebook was from 1923, when Patrick Anderson would have been eight years old, and contained calligraphy lessons and childhood drawings. These experiences in the archive opened my mind to the possibilities of such research. Having spent much of the summer reading Anderson’s published poetry and autobiographies, gaining access to such an intimate record shifted my perspective on our work.
Time spent in Ottawa, at Library of Archives Canada, parsing Anderson’s journals and notebooks.
Alongside archival research, Sean and I had the opportunity to participate in conversations with researchers and experts in the field. In early June, we met with Dr. Brian Trehearne to discuss Canadian Modernism and Anderson’s role in Montreal. We also had the opportunity to speak with Gwendolyn Owens, director of the Visual Arts Collection at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, to learn about her research on Marian Dale Scott, a Canadian painter working in Montreal during Anderson’s time at McGill. In late June, we spoke with Dr. Robert Lecker about the context of poetry at McGill. I am very grateful to those who took the time to speak with us about their work and to share their insights.
This summer, my experience as an intern with Poetry Matters has shown me the value of archival research, which provided a unique window into Anderson’s published writing. Beyond work in the archive, Sean and I were able to conduct our research outside the deadlines and constraints of the classroom. Through this experience, we’ve witnessed a different form of research, one which is slower, more deliberate. The final opportunity to craft our own personal commentary on Anderson, drawn from months of reading and questions, has been a truly rewarding experience.
Some of the books which were invaluable in independent research on Patrick Anderson, including his poetry collections The Colour as Naked and Return to Canada.
I would like to thank Professor Hickman for her guidance and remarkable insight throughout this research experience. As a recipient of the Dean Of Arts Development Fund. I would also like to thank Dean of Arts Prof. Lisa Shapiro and the Arts Internship Office for their generous support, without which this internship would not have been possible.
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