Wilfred Watson
Encyclopedia
Wilfred Watson was professor emeritus of English at Canada
's University of Alberta
for many years. He was also an experimental Canadian poet
and dramatist, whose innovative plays had a considerable influence in the 1960s. The Dictionary of Literary Biography
(DLB) says that "Watson ushered in an avant-garde
in Canadian theater years before the rear guard had fully emerged."
. He attended the University of British Columbia from 1940 to 1943 and received a B.A.
in English literature. In 1941 he married Sheila Martin Doherty, who as Sheila Watson
would write the novel The Double Hook
.
On graduating, Watson enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy
for the balance of World War II
. After the war he attended the University of Toronto
, receiving his M.A.
in 1946 and Ph.D.
in 1951.
Wilfred Watson began his academic career in 1949 as a lecturer in English at the University of British Columbia
. He taught at the University of Alberta
in Calgary
from 1951 to 1953. In 1954 he transferred to the Edmonton
campus, where he remained as professor of English until retiring in 1977.
Watson lived in Paris in 1955 and 1956, as the recipient of a Canadian Government Overseas Fellowship. There he was introduced to the theatre of the absurd
.
In 1961, Sheila Watson was also hired as a professor of English by the University of Alberta. "In Edmonton the Watsons became part of an active circle of writers and established the literary magazine,The White Pelican in 1970 along with Douglas Barbour, Stephen Scobie
, John Orrell
, Dorothy Livesay
, and artist Norman Yates."
Other members of the Watsons' intellectual circle were actor-directors Gordon Peacock and Thomas Peacocke
, both associated with the University of Alberta's Studio Theatre. The Studio Theatre became an important venue for the production of Wilfred Watson's plays, beginning with Cockcrow and the Gulls (which he'd written in the mid-1950s) in March 1962.
In the early 1960s Watson co-founded a jazz club
, "Yardbird Suite" in Edmonton. During the same period he became acquainted with Marshall McLuhan
and increasingly interested in McLuhan's theories, which resulted in the two men authoring a study, From Cliche to Archetype.
The 1960s were Watson's most prolific period for playwriting. Trial of Corporal Adam was produced in 1963; Wail for Two Pedestals in 1964; a centennial play, O Holy Ghost, Dip Your Finger in the Blood of Canada, and Write, I LOVE YOU in 1967; and the satire Let's Murder Clytemnestra According to the Principles of Marshall Mcluhan in 1969.
During the 1970s Watson returned to poetry, publishing The Sorrowful Canadians and Other Poems in 1972, I Begin with Counting in 1978, and Mass on Cowback in 1982. In 1983 he wrote a major dramatic work, the trilogy, Gramsci x 3, which was produced by Studio Theatre in 1986. He also had a short play, The Woman Taken in Adultery, performed at the Edmonton Fringe Festival in 1987
Wilfred Watson retired in 1977 and moved in 1980 to Nanaimo, British Columbia
with his wife Sheila. He died there in 1998 at the age of 87.
. On its appearance, Canadian critic Northrop Frye
called it "typically formal poetry, mythical, metaphorical and apocalyptic." Frye was admiring: "We feel that even a line as breath-taking as 'When in her side my eyes were but blind seeds,' or a phrase like 'the tomb egg broken,' is merely what fits the poem at that point: brilliant as the imagery is, there is no costume jewellery."
In his second book, The Sorrowful Canadians and Other Poems, published in 1972, Watson experimented with using repetitions and different typefaces.
Watson introduced a unique form he called Number-grid Verse in his third book, 1978's I Begin With Counting. The form combines numerals and letters, using "a vertical grid of 9 numbers with 17 slots for words, syllables or phrases. By stacking the grids, Watson writes a "score" for the performance of multivoice poems which exist not on the page but in transformations from visual to auditory forms.".
Watson used Number-grid Verse in his next book of poetry, Mass on Cowback (1982). The form also allowed him to score poetry for oral performance by several voices, which he used in his later plays.
His trilogy Gramsci x 3 is part docudrama
, part theatre of the absurd, "continual experimentation with verse forms, satire alternating with lyricism, and an energy and exaltation that transcends the horrors it depicts."
.
Shirley Neuman ed., Gordon Peacock intr. Edmonto: Longspoon/NeWest, 1989.
Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
for many years. He was also an experimental Canadian poet
Canadian poetry
- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
and dramatist, whose innovative plays had a considerable influence in the 1960s. The Dictionary of Literary Biography
Dictionary of Literary Biography
The Dictionary of Literary Biography is a specialist encyclopedia dedicated to literature. Published by Gale, the 375-volumes set covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods, and genres, with a focus on American and British literature....
(DLB) says that "Watson ushered in an avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
in Canadian theater years before the rear guard had fully emerged."
Life and work
Wilfred Watson was born in Rochester, England in 1911, the oldest child of Louisa Claydon and Frederick Walter Watson. When he was 15 his family immigrated to Canada and settled in Duncan, British ColumbiaDuncan, British Columbia
Duncan is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.-History:The community is named after William Chalmers Duncan . He arrived in Victoria in May 1862, then in August of that year he was one of the party of a hundred settlers which Governor Douglas took to Cowichan Bay...
. He attended the University of British Columbia from 1940 to 1943 and received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English literature. In 1941 he married Sheila Martin Doherty, who as Sheila Watson
Sheila Watson
Sheila Martin Watson was a Canadian novelist, critic and teacher. She "is best known for her modernist novel, The Double Hook." The Canadian Encyclopedia declares that: "Publication of Watson's novel The Double Hook marks the start of contemporary writing in Canada."-Life:She was born Sheila...
would write the novel The Double Hook
The Double Hook
The Double Hook is a novel written by Sheila Watson, which is considered "a seminal work in the development of contemporary Canadian literature."Published in 1959, The Double Hook is written in a style more like prose poetry than fiction...
.
On graduating, Watson enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
for the balance of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war he attended the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, receiving his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in 1946 and Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1951.
Wilfred Watson began his academic career in 1949 as a lecturer in English at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
. He taught at the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
from 1951 to 1953. In 1954 he transferred to the Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
campus, where he remained as professor of English until retiring in 1977.
Watson lived in Paris in 1955 and 1956, as the recipient of a Canadian Government Overseas Fellowship. There he was introduced to the theatre of the absurd
Theatre of the Absurd
The Theatre of the Absurd is a designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction, written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theatre which has evolved from their work...
.
In 1961, Sheila Watson was also hired as a professor of English by the University of Alberta. "In Edmonton the Watsons became part of an active circle of writers and established the literary magazine,The White Pelican in 1970 along with Douglas Barbour, Stephen Scobie
Stephen Scobie
Stephen Scobie is a Canadian poet, critic, and scholar.Born in Carnoustie, Scotland, Scobie relocated to Canada in 1965...
, John Orrell
John Orrell
John Orrell was an author, theatre historian, and English professor at the University of Alberta. The New York Times described him as the “historian whose intellectual detective work laid the groundwork for the 1997 re-creation of Shakespeare’s original Globe Theater.”-Life and work:Orrell was...
, Dorothy Livesay
Dorothy Livesay
Dorothy Kathleen May Livesay, was a Canadian poet who twice won the Governor General`s Award in the 1940s, and was "senior woman writer in Canada" during the 1970s and 1980s.-Life:...
, and artist Norman Yates."
Other members of the Watsons' intellectual circle were actor-directors Gordon Peacock and Thomas Peacocke
Thomas Peacocke
Thomas Peacocke is a Canadian actor. He won the Genie Award for Best Actor in 1981 for his role in The Hounds of Notre Dame.Peacocke studied acting at the University of Alberta and directing at Carnegie Mellon University, and began teaching drama at the University of Alberta in 1961.His other roles...
, both associated with the University of Alberta's Studio Theatre. The Studio Theatre became an important venue for the production of Wilfred Watson's plays, beginning with Cockcrow and the Gulls (which he'd written in the mid-1950s) in March 1962.
In the early 1960s Watson co-founded a jazz club
Jazz club
A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music. Jazz clubs have been in large rooms in the eras of Orchestral jazz and big band jazz and when its popularity as a dance music was common...
, "Yardbird Suite" in Edmonton. During the same period he became acquainted with Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
and increasingly interested in McLuhan's theories, which resulted in the two men authoring a study, From Cliche to Archetype.
The 1960s were Watson's most prolific period for playwriting. Trial of Corporal Adam was produced in 1963; Wail for Two Pedestals in 1964; a centennial play, O Holy Ghost, Dip Your Finger in the Blood of Canada, and Write, I LOVE YOU in 1967; and the satire Let's Murder Clytemnestra According to the Principles of Marshall Mcluhan in 1969.
During the 1970s Watson returned to poetry, publishing The Sorrowful Canadians and Other Poems in 1972, I Begin with Counting in 1978, and Mass on Cowback in 1982. In 1983 he wrote a major dramatic work, the trilogy, Gramsci x 3, which was produced by Studio Theatre in 1986. He also had a short play, The Woman Taken in Adultery, performed at the Edmonton Fringe Festival in 1987
Wilfred Watson retired in 1977 and moved in 1980 to Nanaimo, British Columbia
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Nanaimo is a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It has been dubbed the "Bathtub Racing Capital of the World" and "Harbour City". Nanaimo is also sometimes referred to as the "Hub City" because of its central location on Vancouver Island and due to the layout of the downtown...
with his wife Sheila. He died there in 1998 at the age of 87.
Writing
Watson's first book of poetry, Friday's Child, was accepted by T.S. Eliot and published in 1955 by Faber and FaberFaber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
. On its appearance, Canadian critic Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
called it "typically formal poetry, mythical, metaphorical and apocalyptic." Frye was admiring: "We feel that even a line as breath-taking as 'When in her side my eyes were but blind seeds,' or a phrase like 'the tomb egg broken,' is merely what fits the poem at that point: brilliant as the imagery is, there is no costume jewellery."
In his second book, The Sorrowful Canadians and Other Poems, published in 1972, Watson experimented with using repetitions and different typefaces.
Watson introduced a unique form he called Number-grid Verse in his third book, 1978's I Begin With Counting. The form combines numerals and letters, using "a vertical grid of 9 numbers with 17 slots for words, syllables or phrases. By stacking the grids, Watson writes a "score" for the performance of multivoice poems which exist not on the page but in transformations from visual to auditory forms.".
Watson used Number-grid Verse in his next book of poetry, Mass on Cowback (1982). The form also allowed him to score poetry for oral performance by several voices, which he used in his later plays.
His trilogy Gramsci x 3 is part docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
, part theatre of the absurd, "continual experimentation with verse forms, satire alternating with lyricism, and an energy and exaltation that transcends the horrors it depicts."
Recognition
Watson's first book of poetry, Friday's Child, won both the British Council and Governor General's Awards for poetry in 19551955 Governor General's Awards
In Canada, the 1955 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were the nineteenth such awards. The awards in this period had no monetary prize but were an honour for the authors.-Winners:...
.
Plays
- Cockrow and the Gulls, 1962.
- The Trial of Corporal Adam, 1963.
- Wail for Two Pedestals, 1964.
- O Holy Ghost DIP YOUR FINGER IN THE BLOOD OF CANADA and write, I LOVE YOU, 1967.
- Let's murder Clytemnestra, according to the principles of Marshall McLuhan, 1969.
- Gramsci x 3. Edmonton, Longspoon, 1983.
- The Woman Taken in Adultery, 1987.
- Plays at the Iron Bridge, or, The autobiography of Tom Horror.
Shirley Neuman ed., Gordon Peacock intr. Edmonto: Longspoon/NeWest, 1989.
Poetry
- Friday's Child. London: Faber & Faber, 19551955 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Group, a British poetry movement, starts meeting in London with gatherings taking place once a week, on Friday evenings, at first at Hobsbaum's flat and later at the house of Edward Lucie-Smith...
. New York: Farrar Strauss & Cudahy, 1955. - The Sorrowful Canadians and Other Poems. Edmonton: White Pelican, 19721972 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* John Betjeman becomes Poet Laureate...
. - I Begin with Counting. Edmonton: NeWest, 19781978 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine, edited by Bruce Andrews and Charles Bernstein, first published...
. - Mass on Cowback 19821982 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Final edition of This Magazine published....
. - Poems: Collected, Unpublished, New. Thomas Peacocke intr. Edmonton: NeWEst, 19861986 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* New American Writing, an annual literary magazine concentrating on poetry, is founded in Chicago, Illinois....
.
Fonds
Wilfred Watson's papers are located in the University of Alberta archives.Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy The Canadian Encyclopedia.