Arthur John Arbuthnott Stringer
Encyclopedia
Arthur John Arbuthnott Stringer (February 26, 1874 – September 13, 1950) was a Canadian novelist, screenwriter, and poet who later moved to the United States
.
He published 45 works of fiction and 15 other books, in addition to writing numerous filmscripts and articles.
, the son of Sarah Mary Delmage and Hugh Stringer. "He was a high spirited boy who spent his childhood days fishing, swimming, raiding orchards and manning a pirate ship." In 1884 the family moved to London, Ontario
, where Charles attended London Collegiate Institute. At the Institute he founded and edited a school magazine called Chips. He then attended University College, University of Toronto
from 1892 to 1894 and later studied at Oxford University. His first book of poetry, Watchers of Twilight and Other Poems, was published in 1894.
In 1895 he worked for the Montreal Herald. At this time he was also publishing in Saturday Night
and the Canadian Magazine. In 1898 he got a job with the American Press Association, moved to New York City
, and was soon publishing in The Atlantic and Harper's. His first poem in Harper's, "Remorse", appeared in February 1899. His first novel, The Silver Poppy, came out in 1903. In the same year he bought a farm on the shore of Lake Erie. and married actress Jobyna Howland
, known as the original Gibson girl
.
They divorced in 1914, and Stringer married his cousin, Margaret Arbuthnott. They had three sons: Arthur John Arbuthnott Stringer (John), Hugh Arbuthnott Stringer (Barney), and Robert Arthur Stringer.
Stringer was popular in his day for his crime fiction
and his wilderness adventures
, but he wrote in many genres, from social realism
(his "Prairie" trilogy, 1915–1921) to psychological fiction (The Wine of Life (1921). He even wrote early science fiction
novels, The Story Without a Name (1924) with Russell Holman, and The Woman Who Couldn't Die (1929).
Much of his writing was for films. Film scripts on which he worked include The Perils Of Pauline (1914), The Hand Of Peril (1916), The House Of Intrigue (1919), Unseeing Eyes (1923), Empty Hands (1924), The Canadian (1926), The Purchase Price (1932), The Lady Fights Back (1937), Buck Benny Rides Again (1940) and The Iron Claw
(1941).
, where Arthur Stringer continued to write, and where he died in 1950, aged 76.
Against that one has to set Stringer's prairie trilogy – Prairie Wife (1915), Prairie Mother (1920), and Prairie Child (1921) – which has been called "an enduring contribution to Canadian literature." The trilogy uses a diary form to tell the tale of its narrator, "a New England
socialite married to a dour Scots-Canadian wheat farmer," and "develops gradually from the optimism typical of pioneering romances, through disillusionment as her marriage deteriorates, to mature resolve as she begins an independent life on the Prairies."
drama Sappho in Leucadia was called "an imaginative, passionate, artistic work of surpassing quality".
Stringer's chief claim to poetic fame today rests on his 1914 book, Open Water, the first book by a Canadian poet to use free verse
– and in particular on his preface to that book, in which he "describes the modernist movement
as a natural evolution." Louis Dudek
and Michael Gnarowski, who reprinted the Open Water preface in their anthology The Making of Modern Poetry In Canada, remarked on it:
"Stringer's arguments become even more striking from the point of view of literary history", Dudek and Gnarowski continued, "if we recall ... that the famous notes of F.S. Flint and the strictures of Ezra Pound
on imagisme and free verse had appeared less than a year before this, in the March 1913 issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse (Chicago)
.
in 1946.
Stringer is commemorated by Arthur Stringer Public School in London, Ontario
, which opened in 1969.
The house in which Stringer lived as a boy in London, Ontario has been preserved as a historic site, Arthur Stringer House.
Information on early fiction from American fiction, 1901-1925.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He published 45 works of fiction and 15 other books, in addition to writing numerous filmscripts and articles.
Life
Stringer was born in Chatham, OntarioChatham, Ontario
Chatham is the largest community in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Formerly serving as the seat of Kent County, the governments of the former city of Chatham, the county of Kent, and its townships were merged into one entity known as the Municipality of Chatham-Kent in 1998.Located on...
, the son of Sarah Mary Delmage and Hugh Stringer. "He was a high spirited boy who spent his childhood days fishing, swimming, raiding orchards and manning a pirate ship." In 1884 the family moved to London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, where Charles attended London Collegiate Institute. At the Institute he founded and edited a school magazine called Chips. He then attended University College, University of Toronto
University College, University of Toronto
University College is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university's modern collegiate system, and its secularism contrasted with contemporary...
from 1892 to 1894 and later studied at Oxford University. His first book of poetry, Watchers of Twilight and Other Poems, was published in 1894.
In 1895 he worked for the Montreal Herald. At this time he was also publishing in Saturday Night
Saturday Night (magazine)
Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...
and the Canadian Magazine. In 1898 he got a job with the American Press Association, moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and was soon publishing in The Atlantic and Harper's. His first poem in Harper's, "Remorse", appeared in February 1899. His first novel, The Silver Poppy, came out in 1903. In the same year he bought a farm on the shore of Lake Erie. and married actress Jobyna Howland
Jobyna Howland
Jobyna Howland was an American stage and screen actress. Tall, regal and beautiful Howland was another model for Charles Dana Gibson's famous sketching The Gibson Girl. Howland made her first appearance on the New York Stage in 1899 managed by Daniel Frohman...
, known as the original Gibson girl
Gibson Girl
The Gibson Girl was the personification of a feminine ideal as portrayed in the satirical pen-and-ink-illustrated stories created by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period spanning the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in the United States.Some people argue that the...
.
They divorced in 1914, and Stringer married his cousin, Margaret Arbuthnott. They had three sons: Arthur John Arbuthnott Stringer (John), Hugh Arbuthnott Stringer (Barney), and Robert Arthur Stringer.
Stringer was popular in his day for his crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
and his wilderness adventures
Adventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
, but he wrote in many genres, from social realism
Social realism
Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is an artistic movement, expressed in the visual and other realist arts, which depicts social and racial injustice, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic...
(his "Prairie" trilogy, 1915–1921) to psychological fiction (The Wine of Life (1921). He even wrote early science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novels, The Story Without a Name (1924) with Russell Holman, and The Woman Who Couldn't Die (1929).
Much of his writing was for films. Film scripts on which he worked include The Perils Of Pauline (1914), The Hand Of Peril (1916), The House Of Intrigue (1919), Unseeing Eyes (1923), Empty Hands (1924), The Canadian (1926), The Purchase Price (1932), The Lady Fights Back (1937), Buck Benny Rides Again (1940) and The Iron Claw
The Iron Claw (1941 serial)
The Iron Claw was the 15th serial released by Columbia Pictures .-Synopsis:A Fortune in gold, taken from the wreck of a Spanish galleon, is hidden in the home of Anton Benson, a reclusive miser. The entire Benson family and household want the gold for themselves, including a mystery villain known...
(1941).
Last years
In 1921, the Stringers moved to Mountain Lakes, New JerseyMountain Lakes, New Jersey
Mountain Lakes is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 4,256....
, where Arthur Stringer continued to write, and where he died in 1950, aged 76.
Fiction
Stringer was popular in his day for his crime fiction and his wilderness adventures, both of which rely to a large degree on formula; "generally he worked within the conventions of sentimental romance popular around the turn of the century." Contemporary critics have not been kind to his fiction. For example, Douglas Fetherling wrote of him in the Canadian Encyclopedia:- Stringer was not in any recognizable stream of Canadian writing but rather was a prolific American hack-fiction writer ... The fact that he lived most of his life in the U.S., however, did not prevent him from frequently inventing Canadian characters and sometimes ... setting them in the Far North, a region he misunderstood lavishly, thereby contributing to foreign stereotyping of Canada.
Against that one has to set Stringer's prairie trilogy – Prairie Wife (1915), Prairie Mother (1920), and Prairie Child (1921) – which has been called "an enduring contribution to Canadian literature." The trilogy uses a diary form to tell the tale of its narrator, "a New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
socialite married to a dour Scots-Canadian wheat farmer," and "develops gradually from the optimism typical of pioneering romances, through disillusionment as her marriage deteriorates, to mature resolve as she begins an independent life on the Prairies."
Poetry
The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature described Stringer's poetry as "undistinguished verse." However, it was also said that in his poetry "there is maintained a standard of beauty, depth of feeling, and technical power, which in Canada have had all too little recognition." At its time his blank verseBlank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
drama Sappho in Leucadia was called "an imaginative, passionate, artistic work of surpassing quality".
Stringer's chief claim to poetic fame today rests on his 1914 book, Open Water, the first book by a Canadian poet to use free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
– and in particular on his preface to that book, in which he "describes the modernist movement
Modernist poetry in English
Modernist poetry in English is generally considered to have emerged in the early years of the 20th century with the appearance of the Imagists. In common with many other modernists, these poets wrote in reaction to the perceived excesses of Victorian poetry, with its emphasis on traditional...
as a natural evolution." Louis Dudek
Louis Dudek
Louis Dudek, OC was a Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism. He was the author of over two dozen books...
and Michael Gnarowski, who reprinted the Open Water preface in their anthology The Making of Modern Poetry In Canada, remarked on it:
This book must be seen as a turning point in Canadian writing if only for the importance of the ideas advanced by Stringer in his preface. In a carefully presented, extremely well-informed account of traditional verse-making, Stringer pleaded the cause of free verse and created what must now be recognized as an early document of the struggle to free Canadian poetry from the trammels of end-rhyme, and to liberalize its methods and its substance.
"Stringer's arguments become even more striking from the point of view of literary history", Dudek and Gnarowski continued, "if we recall ... that the famous notes of F.S. Flint and the strictures of Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
on imagisme and free verse had appeared less than a year before this, in the March 1913 issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse (Chicago)
Poetry (magazine)
Poetry , published in Chicago, Illinois since 1912, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Published by the Poetry Foundation and currently edited by Christian Wiman, the magazine has a circulation of 30,000 and prints 300 poems per year out of approximately...
.
Legacy
Stringer was awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the University of Western OntarioUniversity of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
in 1946.
Stringer is commemorated by Arthur Stringer Public School in London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, which opened in 1969.
The house in which Stringer lived as a boy in London, Ontario has been preserved as a historic site, Arthur Stringer House.
Fiction
- The Silver Poppy. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1903.
- Lonely O'Malley: A Story of Boy Life. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1905.
- The Wire Tappers. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1906.
- Phantom Wires. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1907.
- The Under Groove. New York: McClure Company, 1908.
- The Gun-Runner. New York: B.W. Dodge & Co., 1909.
- The Shadow. The Century Co., 1913.
- The Prairie Wife Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1915.
- The Hand of Peril. 1915.
- The Door of Dread: A Secret Service Romance. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1916.
- The House of Intrigue. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1918.
- The Man Who Couldn't Sleep. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1919.
- The Prairie Mother. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1920. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1920.
- Twin Tales: "Are All Men Alike" and "The Lost Titian". Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1921.
- The Wine of Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1921.
- The Prairie Child. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1922. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1923.
- The Diamond Thieves. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1923. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1925.
- The City of Peril. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923.
- Empty Hands. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1924.
- and Russell Holman. Manhandled. (Illustrated with scenes from the photoplay). New York: Grossett & Dunlap, 1924.
- and Russell Holman. The Story Without a Name. (Illustrated with scenes from the photoplay). New York: Grossett & Dunlap, 1924.
- Never-Fail Blake. New York: A.L. Burt, 1924.
- Power. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, c.1925.
- In Bad With Sinbad. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1926.
- Night Hawk. A Novel New York: A.L. Burt, 1926.
- White Hands. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1927.
- The Wolf Woman. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1927.
- Cristina and I. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1929.
- The Woman Who Couldn't Die. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1929.
- A Lady Quite Lost, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1931.
- The Mud Lark. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1932.
- Dark Soil. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1933.
- Marriage by Capture. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1933.
- Man Lost. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1934.
- The Wife Traders: A Tale of the North. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1936.
- Heather of the High Hand: A Novel of the North. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1937.
- The Lamp In the Valley. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1938.
- The Dark Wing. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1939.
- The Ghost Plane: A Novel of the North. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1940.
- A King Who Loved Old Clothes. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1941.
- Intruders in Eden. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1942.
- Shadowed Victory. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1944.
- Star in a Mist. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943.
- The Devastator. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1944.
Information on early fiction from American fiction, 1901-1925.
Non-fiction
- A Study of King Lear. New York, 1897.
- Red Wine of Youth: A Life of Rupert Brooke, 1921.
Poetry
- Watchers of Twilight, and Other Poems. London, ON: T.H. Warren, 18941894 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Yellow Book, published 1894–97...
. - Pauline and Other Poems. London, ON: T.H. Warren, 18951895 in poetry* February 18 — John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, father of Oscar Wilde's lover, leaves a calling card at one of Wilde's London clubs, the Albermarle. On the back of it he writes "For Oscar Wilde posing as a Somdomite"...
. - The Loom of Destiny. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1899.
- The Woman in the Rain, and Other Poems. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 19071907 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Canada:* Peter McArthur, The Prodigal and other Poems* Robert W...
. 1949. - Irish Poems. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 19111911 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Britain establishes six copyright libraries to which copies of all books published in the country must be sent: Bodleian Library ; British Library ; National Library of Scotland ; National Library of...
.- Out of Erin (Songs in Exile). Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1930.
- Open Water. London: John Lane Co., 19141914 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 29 – Yone Noguchi lectures on "The Japanese Hokku Poetry" at Magdalen College, Oxford...
. - A Woman at Dusk and Other Poems. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 19281928 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Russian poets Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky found OBERIU , an avant-garde grouping of Russian post-Futurist poets in the 1920s-1930s* American poets Charles Reznikoff, George Oppen and Louis...
. - The Old Woman Remembers and Other Irish Poems. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 19381938 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* In Nazi Germany, the Reichsschrifttumskammer banned German expressionist poet Gottfried Benn from further writing.-Australia:* Rex Ingamells and Ian Tilbrook, Conditional Culture, published in...
. - New York Nocturnes. Toronto: Ryerson P, 19481948 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Sometime this year, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase Beat Generation to describe his friends and as a general term describing the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York at that...
.
Plays
- Hephaestus: Persephone At Enna And Sappho In Leucadia. 1903
- The Cleverest Woman In the World and Other One-Act Dramas. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1939.
Movies
The following 22 movies were based on fiction by Arthur Stringer:- 1912 The Man Who Made Good (short) (story)
- 1914 The Case of Cherry Purcelle (short) (story)
- 1916 The Secret Agent (short) (story)
- 1916 The Breaker (story)
- 1916 The Hand of Peril (novel The Hand of Peril: A Novel of Adventure)
- 1918 From Two to Six (story "The Button Thief")
- 1919 The House of Intrigue (novel)
- 1920 Are All Men Alike? (story "The Waffle Iron")
- 1923 Unseeing Eyes (story "Snowblind")
- 1924 Manhandled (story)
- 1924 The Story Without a Name (novel)
- 1924 Empty Hands (story)
- 1925 The Prairie Wife (story)
- 1925 Womanhandled (story)
- 1926 The Canadian (story and scenario)
- 1926 The Wilderness Woman (scenario / story)
- 1926 Out of the Storm (story "The Travis Coup")
- 1928 Half a Bride (story "White Hands")
- 1932 The Purchase Price (story "The Mud Lark")
- 1937 The Lady Fights Back (novel "Heather of the High Hand")
- 1940 Buck Benny Rides Again (story)
- 1941 The Iron ClawThe Iron Claw (1941 serial)The Iron Claw was the 15th serial released by Columbia Pictures .-Synopsis:A Fortune in gold, taken from the wreck of a Spanish galleon, is hidden in the home of Anton Benson, a reclusive miser. The entire Benson family and household want the gold for themselves, including a mystery villain known...
(story)
External links
- Arthur Stringer in Canadian Poets. - Biography & 5 poems (The Lure o' Life, At the Comedy, The Old Garden (I-IV), Destiny, The Keeper, The Seekers, War, Morning in the North-West, from 'Sappho in Leucadia')
- Arthur Stringer in Harper's Magazine - 16 poems.
- Project Gutenberg entry
- Prairie Stories series at manybooks.net
- Family tree