David Helwig (April 5, 1938 – October 16, 2018) was a Canadian editor, essayist, memoirist, novelist, poet, short story writer and translator.

Life and career

Helwig was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, where he spent his early childhood years. When he was ten years old, his family moved to

Niagara-on-the-Lake Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York (state), New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the R ...

, Ontario, where his father ran a small business repairing and refinishing furniture and buying and selling antiques. He earned a B.A. from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1960, and an M.A. from the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

in 1962. He subsequently taught at Queen's University from 1962 to 1974. While he was at Queen's University, he also taught writing classes in Collins Bay Penitentiary. In 1972, he co-wrote ''A Book about Billie'' with an inmate of the prison. In 1971, he founded and was long-time editor of the ''Best Canadian Stories'' anthology series for

Oberon Press Oberon Press is an independent Canada, Canadian literary publisher founded in 1966. It focuses mainly on Canadian fiction—particularly short stories—and poetry, but also publishes criticism, history, biography and autobiography. Oberon has ...

. From 1974 to 1976, he was the literary manager for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

's drama department. In 1980, he retired from teaching and became a full-time writer. His work includes a series of novels set in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

, known as "The Kingston Novels": ''The Glass Knight'', ''Jennifer'', ''A Sound Like Laughter'', and ''It is Always Summer''. His best known poem, "Considerations", was published in

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

in 1970. His poetry collections have received numerous awards, including the CBC poetry award for ''Catchpenny Poems'' (1983) and the Atlantic Poetry Award for ''The Year One'' (2004). As an adult, Helwig learned Russian and published two books of translations of short stories by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

which included

About Love (short story) "About Love" () is an 1898 short story by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. The third and final part of the Little Trilogy, started by "The Man in the Case" and continued by "Gooseberries (short story), Gooseberries". It was first published in the August ...

. He lived his later years in

Belfast, Prince Edward Island Belfast is a List of rural municipalities in Prince Edward Island, rural municipality in Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is located in southeastern Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Queens County in the townships of Lot 57, Prince Edward Isla ...

with his wife, Judy Gaudet. His daughter,

Maggie Helwig Maggie Helwig (born 1961) is a Canadian poet, novelist, social justice activist, and Anglican priest. Academic career Her early education was at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute in Kingston, Ontario, Kingston, Ontario, graduating in 19 ...

, is a noted writer and social justice activist in

. In 2007, he received the

Matt Cohen Award The Matt Cohen Award is an award given annually by the Writers' Trust of Canada to a Canadian writer, in honour of a distinguished lifetime contribution to Canadian literature. First presented in 2000, it was established in memory of Matt Cohen, a ...

from the

Writers' Trust of Canada The Writers' Trust of Canada () is a registered charity which provides financial support to Canadian writers. Founded by Margaret Atwood, Pierre Berton, Graeme Gibson, Margaret Laurence, and David Young (Canadian playwright), David Young; the W ...

in honor of his lifetime contribution to Canadian literature. On January 23, 2008, he was appointed Prince Edward Island's third Poet Laureate and on July 1, 2009 he was named a Member of the Order of Canada. Helwig died on October 16, 2018, at the age of 80 at a hospital in Montague, Prince Edward Island.

Works by David Helwig

Poetry

* ''Figures in a Landscape'', 1968 * ''The Sign of the Gunman'', 1969 * ''The Best Name of Silence'', 1972 * ''Atlantic Crossings'', 1974 * ''Book of the Hours'', 1979 * ''The Rain Falls Like Rain'', 1982 * ''Catchpenny Poems'', 1983 * ''The Hundred Old Names'', 1989 * ''The Beloved'', 1992 * ''A Random Gospel'', 1996 * ''This Human Day'', 2000 * ''Telling Stories'', 2000 * ''The Year One'', 2004 * ''The Sway of Otherwise'', 2008 * ''Seawrack'', 2013 * ''Keeping Late Hours'', 2015 * ''Sudden and Absolute Stranger'', 2017 * ''A House in Memory: Last Poems'', 2020

Fiction

* ''The Streets of Summer'', 1969 (

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

) * ''The Day Before Tomorrow'', 1971 (titled ''Message from a Spy'' in 1975 printing) * ''The Glass Knight'', 1976 * ''Jennifer'', 1979 * ''The King's Evil'', 1981 * ''It Is Always Summer'', 1982 * ''A Sound Like Laughter'', 1983 * ''The Only Son'', 1984 * ''The Bishop'', 1986 * ''A Postcard from Rome'', 1988 * ''Old Wars'', 1989 * ''Of Desire'', 1990 * ''Blueberry Cliffs'', 1993 (

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

) * ''Just Say the Words'', 1994 * ''Close to the Fire'', 1999 (

) * ''The Time of Her Life'', 2000 * ''The Stand-In'', 2002 (

) * ''Duet'', 2004 (

) * ''Saltsea'', 2006 * ''Smuggling Donkeys'', 2007 (

) * ''Coming Through'', 2007 (three novellas) * ''Mystery Stories'', 2010 (

) * ''Killing McGee'', 2011 (

) * ''Simon Says'', 2012 * ''Clyde'', 2014

Other

* ''A Book About Billie'', 1972 (documentary) (as ''Inside and Out'', 1975) * ''Last Stories of Anton Chekhov'', 1991 (as

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

) * ''The Child of Someone'', 1997 (

essays An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

) * ''Living Here'', 2001 (

) * ''The Names of Things'', 2006 (

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

) * ''About Love'', 2012 (as

) * ''The Essential Tom Marshall'', 2012 (co-edited with

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...

)

References

External links

David HelwigDavid Helwig's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Helwig, David 1938 births 2018 deaths Canadian male novelists Canadian male poets Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets University of Toronto alumni Poets from Prince Edward Island Poets from Toronto Poets laureate of places in Canada Novelists from Toronto