How Leonard Cohen, Graham Greene, Agatha Christie and the Ship and Anchor all fit onto the Literary Map of Calgary

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In February 1978, a convention was held on the College of Calgary’s MacEwan Corridor Ballroom that introduced collectively a who’s who of CanLit luminaries.

It was known as The Convention of the Canadian Novel. Mordecai Richler was there. So had been Margaret Laurence and Gabrielle Roy. Poet Earle Birney confirmed up. Novelists Brian Moore and W.O. Mitchell had been readily available, as was legendary writer Jack McClelland.

That they had been assembled by Kenneth Glazier, who was the college’s bold chief librarian on the time and who was decided to show Calgary right into a literary hub. He had, for example, already begun amassing Richler’s papers — dubbed fonds in archivist circles — for what would ultimately develop into the crown jewel of an unlimited assortment of literary treasures now housed on the college’s Particular Assortment Library. However the convention proved to be a unusually divisive affair. The primary bone of competition was an inventory that was launched on the ultimate day of the 100 most important Canadian novels. This was decided by poll, voted on by 140 individuals together with convention attendees. In nowadays of power list-making, it might appear odd that such a factor would trigger a furor. But it surely did. It was strongly denounced, for example, by poet, educational and convention attendee Eli Mandel, though the explanations for his objection aren’t utterly clear in Calgary Herald articles in regards to the controversy. Different detractors known as it the “hit parade listing.” Laurence appeared extra at peace with it, however maybe this was as a result of her 1964 novel, The Stone Angel, was ranked No. 1, adopted by Roy’s The Tin Flute and Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

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“That they had conniptions in that ballroom, on the convention ground, about this listing,” says creator and researcher Shaun Hunter, who was the 2020 historian-in-residence for Heritage Calgary and the Calgary Public Library.

Hunter spent years learning the literary panorama of town for her 2018 guide, Calgary by means of the Eyes of Writers. For the previous 12 months, she has been immersed in creating The Literary Map of Calgary, a digital venture that highlights a whole lot of landmarks, buildings, parks, buildings and areas of town which might be important to its literary historical past. However till earlier this week, she had by no means even heard of The Convention of the Canadian Novel. Hunter’s tenure as historian-in-residence formally resulted in late December. The map was unveiled on Feb. 8 on the web sites of the Calgary Public Library and Heritage Calgary. However, because of its digital nature, it might simply be up to date every time she uncovers these forgotten moments of literary historical past. So there may be now a pin marking the College of Calgary’s Mac Corridor as the positioning of this contentious convention. The occasion was notable for the large names concerned and the controversy. But it surely additionally appears to properly encapsulate a central theme of Hunter’s analysis: Calgary has a wealthy literary previous, even whether it is not often acknowledged outdoors or inside town. Hunter laughs when eager about what the Canadian literati would have made from Glazier’s boldness again in 1978.

“The audacity of a librarian on the College of Calgary in 1978 to say ‘I’m going to construct the centre of Canadian literature in Calgary,’ ” Hunter says. “You may simply think about what they had been saying in Toronto about that. Then he has the second little bit of audacity to say ‘We’re going to have this convention in Calgary on the MacEwan Corridor Ballroom and we’re going to give you this listing.’ “

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Guests to Hunter’s Literary Map of Calgary can learn up on the convention and a whole lot of different literary snippets that span greater than a century. Be forewarned: exploring these tales may be oddly addictive. The tales fall into varied classes. Some pins merely mark the settings for the place fiction and non-fiction writing has taken place. As an example, Hunter acknowledged what’s now Rotary Park, which Sir Cecil Denny mentioned his 1875 go to to the point of view as a member of the North West Mounted Police’s F Troop in his 1939 memoir The Legislation Marches West. North Hill Mall circa Fifties will get a point out as a result of it might have impressed Graham Greene’s 1963 Calgary-set quick story Expensive Dr. Falkenheim. The Stringer Home, a historic Mount Royal house, was featured in Arthur Stringer’s bestselling 1922 trilogy Prairie Tales. The references aren’t all historic. She additionally has a marker for the Previous Y constructing, which is talked about in Calgary author Andrew Wedderburn’s 2021 novel The Crash Palace.

There are additionally spots that had been key in growing Calgary’s historic and trendy literary scenes. The Ship and Anchor will get a pin as a result of it was the place Kirk Miles launched the Drunken Poets Society within the early Nineties. Between the years 1946 and 1959, native members of the Canadian Authors Affiliation would collect on the historic Coste Home, a mansion that served as a cultural centre. The Lougheed Home additionally grew to become a hub within the Twenties, a time when town’s scene was surprisingly vibrant. The analysis exhibits that the scene had extra depth than many may assume, and an extended historical past, Hunter says.

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“I spent chunk of the residency wanting on the Twenties,” Hunter says. “1921 was when the Canadian Authors Affiliation fashioned in Montreal and inside weeks that they had fashioned a department in Calgary. It was a big literary scene within the ’20s in Calgary. In 1921, they held a week-long guide pageant in Calgary. It ran for years, nicely into the ’50s. There was a scene right here and I’m not simply speaking a couple of half-dozen writers. There was a few dozen, not less than. Will we bear in mind any of them? As a metropolis, we don’t have an important reminiscence right here.”

Nonetheless, nerdy bookworms are prone to get most excited by the notable authors who handed by means of city, whether or not they set any of their work right here or not. In line with the map, these celeb sightings embody Greene, who would have definitely come to city on a number of events since his daughter lived in Cochrane. Agatha Christie spent three nights on the Palliser Resort in 1922. Arthur Hailey apparently misplaced his virginity in Elbow Park after visiting Calgary as a younger airman-in-training throughout the Second World Warfare. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a lecture in regards to the paranormal in 1923 in a corridor that was as soon as the positioning of the Al Azhar Temple. David Sedaris sampled one in every of Peters’ Drive-In’s well-known milkshakes throughout a 2009 tour cease.

Intriguingly, based on former Calgary Herald literary editor Ken McGoogan’s 2013 guide 50 Canadians Who Modified the World, Leonard Cohen dined at a restaurant in Kensington’s Smith Block in 1984 and had an opportunity encounter with one of many ladies who had impressed his 1966 tune Sisters of Mercy.

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“Cohen was on the town on a guide tour, for the Ebook of Mercy,” Hunter says. “They had been going to go to a restaurant downtown and it seemed too stuffy or one thing. So McGoogan stated ‘Hey, I do know this place in Kensington, so let’s go there.’ ”

The literary map has greater than 500 pins and Hunter has no plan to cease even when her position as historian-in-residence has ended. Previously week, she has added a dozen extra. Finally, she wish to see it changed into a everlasting show on the Central Library. However for now, she’s satisfied the story hasn’t ended.

“I’m going to maintain plugging away at it as a result of it’s enjoyable,” she says. “It’s simple to replace, not like a guide. It is a residing doc. As I wish to say: ‘curation is ongoing.’ ”

The Literary Map of Calgary will likely be at calgarylibrary.ca till March 1.