Historian in Residence: Writers Lived Here
Shaun Hunter is the 2020 Historian in Residence
Writers Lived Here
Writers have been arriving in Calgary ever since the Canadian Pacific Railway came to town in 1883. While authors like Rudyard Kipling, Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle didn’t stay long, some writers were putting down roots in the City of the Foothills.
Since it opened in 1912, the Memorial Park Library has been a cornerstone of the city’s literary culture. Photo from Williams & Harris Shared History Centre, Calgary Public Library.
The writers of early Calgary were intent on leading literary lives in a place that teemed with material, but they needed more than inspiration. By January 1912, they had a public library. Calgary’s “Temple of Knowledge” in Central Memorial Park would become a cornerstone of the city’s nascent literary infrastructure. Chief librarian Alexander Calhoun not only stocked the shelves with a rich selection of books and reference materials: he offered writers a place to gather. Here, they would develop their knowledge and skills, forge friendships, and hold events that would build the city’s literary culture.
In January 1912, the same month the library opened, seven pioneering female journalists established a Calgary chapter of the Canadian Women’s Press Club. By the next year, membership had tripled. Over several decades, this group was an integral part of the local literary scene, offering community and a lively program of events.
The renowned Canadian poet Bliss Carman was one of the many writers who performed his work at Central Methodist (United) Church in downtown Calgary. Ad from the Calgary Herald, 1924.
In the spring of 1921, Canada’s first national literary organization was formed in Montreal, and Calgarians were eager to join. At a May luncheon in the Hudson Bay Company’s Tapestry Room downtown, writers set out to establish a local branch of the Canadian Authors Association (CAA). Author and Mount Royal College principal George Kerby was elected chair, and celebrity novelist Winnifred Eaton Reeve (aka Onoto Watanna), vice chair.
The Calgary CAA branch was a game changer for city writers. For a membership fee of $5, local creators “of copyrightable literary material” could be part of a national conversation with colleagues in the country’s publishing centre in the East -- the place where book deals and reputations were made.
A 1924 Calgary branch meeting card for the Canadian Authors’ Association the year Winnifred Eaton Reeve served as president. Photo from the Glenbow Archives.
Soon, 1920s Calgary was humming with literary activity. Pick up the Calgary Herald or the Albertan, and you would find poems, articles and fiction penned by and about city writers. On the Herald’s CFAC radio, local authors spoke about the city writing scene and issues facing Canadian writers.
Every November, CAA members in conjunction with other groups organized a week-long book festival with events held around town. Throughout the year, resident and visiting writers gave talks at the Library, Central Methodist (United) Church and the Board of Trade offices in the Lougheed Building. If you wandered down 8th Avenue at Christmastime, you would see local authors’ books showcased at Linton’s and Osborne’s bookstores.
In this 1925 Calgary Herald ad, Osborne’s bookstore features three noted Canadian writers of the day, all of whom called Calgary home.
This was the literary world writers were building so they could live and work at their craft in Calgary.
As I map Calgary’s literary landscape, I’ve found the homes of 14 writers listed in the City’s Inventory of Historic Resources. In apartments, modest homes, and elegant mansions, writers put pens to paper, typed and edited manuscript pages, and dreamed. Some writers lived here for a few years, while others made Calgary their permanent home. Several were laid to rest in the city’s cemeteries.
I invite you to explore the map below and get to know a few of Calgary’s early writers. Click on the pins for stories and photographs. And stay tuned for more writers’ homes and landmarks as Calgary’s digital literary map takes shape.
Shaun Hunter is currently serving as the Calgary Public Library’s Historian in Residence. She is happy to meet with fellow researchers and historians. You can request an individual consultation by emailing historian@calgarylibrary.ca with your preferred date and time as well as the topic you wish to discuss or research question you have. In the meantime, you can explore a few of Calgary’s literary treasures at www.shaunhunter.ca.