Laura Salverson

Canadian author (1890 – 1970)
Laura Salverson
BornLaura Goodman
(1890-12-09)December 9, 1890
Winnipeg, Manitoba
DiedJuly 13, 1970(1970-07-13) (aged 79)
Toronto, Ontario
GenreNovel

Laura Goodman Salverson (December 9, 1890 – July 13, 1970) was a Canadian author.[1] Her work reflected her Icelandic heritage. Two of her books won Governor General's awards for literature.

Early life

Salverson was born Laura Goodman in Winnipeg, Manitoba,[1] the daughter of Lárus Guðmundsson and Ingibjörg Guðmundsdóttir who immigrated to Winnipeg in 1887 from Grundir in Bolungarvík, Iceland. She married George Salverson in 1913.

Career

While a young housewife and mother, Salverson began writing poetry. Several of her poems were published by local newspapers.[2]

In 1923 Salverson published her first novel. The Viking Heart.[3] She went on to write several novels based on Icelandic sagas and themes. Many of the characters in her stories were Scandinavian and German.[4]

Salverson wrote about her experiences with poverty and racial prejudice.[5] Her writings reflected her belief that Icelandic immigrants to Canada should maintain and support their Icelandic culture.[6] In 1939 she wrote an autobiography.[7]

Works

  • The Viking Heart (1923)
  • When Sparrows Fall (1925)
  • Wayside Gleams (1925)
  • Lord of the Silver Dragons (1927)
  • The Dove (1933)
  • The Dark Weaver: Against the Sombre Background of the Old Generations Flame the Scarlet Banners of the New (1937), winner of a 1937 Governor General's Award
  • Black Lace (1938)
  • Confessions of an Immigrant's Daughter (1939), winner of a 1939 Governor General's Award
  • Immortal Rock: The Saga of the Kensington Stone (1954), winner of the 1954 Ryerson Fiction Award

References

  1. ^ a b Laura Salverson in The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  2. ^ Merna Forster (12 November 2014). Canadian Heroines 2-Book Bundle: 100 Canadian Heroines / 100 More Canadian Heroines. Dundurn. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-4597-3087-8.
  3. ^ George Melnyk (1998). The Literary History of Alberta: From Writing-on-Stone to World War Two. University of Alberta. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-0-88864-296-7.
  4. ^ Terrence Craig (30 October 2010). Racial Attitudes in English-Canadian Fiction, 1905-1980. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-55458-661-5.
  5. ^ Julie Rak (2 August 2009). Auto/biography in Canada: Critical Directions. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-55458-771-1.
  6. ^ Daisy Neijmann (1997). Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters: The Contribution of Icelandic-Canadian Writers to Canadian Literature. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-88629-317-8.
  7. ^ Norah Story (June 1967). The Oxford companion to Canadian history and literature. Oxford University Press. p. 744.

External links

  • Works by Laura Goodman Salverson at Faded Page (Canada)
  • Works by Laura Salverson at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
  • Laura Goodman Salverson fonds, LMS-0016 are held at Library and Archives Canada. There are other complementary material in Laura Goodman Salverson fonds (R5600)
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  • Jeffrey Simpson, Discipline of Power: The Conservative Interlude and the Liberal Restoration (1980)
  • George Calef, Caribou and the Barren-Land (1981)
  • Christopher Moore, Louisbourg Portraits: Life in an Eighteenth- Century Garrison Town (1982)
  • Jeffery Williams, Byng of Vimy: General and Governor General (1983)
  • Sandra Gwyn, The Private Capital: Ambition and Love in the Age of Macdonald and Laurier (1984)
  • Ramsay Cook, The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorian English Canada (1985)
  • Northrop Frye, Northrop Frye on Shakespeare (1986)
  • Michael Ignatieff, The Russian Album (1987)
  • Anne Collins, In the Sleep Room (1988)
  • Robert Calder, Willie: The Life of W. Somerset Maugham (1989)
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