Edward Alan Sullivan (November 29, 1868 — August 6, 1947) was a Canadian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of short stories. He is noted for his 1935 historical adventure novel '' The Great Divide'', which depicts the construction of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

History

Born in St. George's Rectory,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, he was the oldest son of Edward Sullivan and Frances Mary Renaud. In 1869, his father became rector of Trinity Church,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. The family lived to the city in 1871, and thus witnessed the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 1 ...

. When he was 15, he began attending Loretto in Musselburgh, Scotland, a famous school for boys. On his return to Canada, he attended the School of Practical Science,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. After this he did

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

exploration work in the West, and later worked in

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

. He was assistant

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

in the Clergue enterprises at Sault Ste. Marie,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

for a year and a half, before the organization of the Consolidated Lake Superior Company. Subsequently, he spent several years as a mining engineer in the

Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (french: Lac des Bois, oj, Pikwedina Sagainan) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,5 ...

district during the period of its

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

exploitation.

Writing

He gained recognition in the United States through his

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meaning ...

s, short stories and comprehensive articles on various themes. These frequently appeared in ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

'', the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', and other leading American periodicals. In 1941 he won the

Governor General's Award for English-language fiction The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English.novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

''Three Came to Ville Marie''. ''

Wonder Stories ''Wonder Stories'' was an early American science fiction magazine which was published under several titles from 1929 to 1955. It was founded by Hugo Gernsback in 1929 after he had lost control of his first science fiction magazine, ''Amazing Stor ...

'' reviewed his lost race novel ''In the Beginning'' favorably, saying its depiction of an encounter between modern men and Pleistocene-era tribesmen was a "most tremendous drama of inter-racial conflict"."Book Reviews", ''

'', May 1931, p.1436

Selected bibliography

*''The Passing of Oul-i-but'' (1913) *''Blantyre — Alien (1914) *''The Inner Door'' (1917) *''Aviation in Canada, 1917-18'' (1919) *''The Rapids'' (1920) *''The Crucible'' (1925) *''The Jade God (1925)'' *''Human Clay'' (1926; as Sinclair Murray) *''In the Beginning'' (1926; as Sinclair Murray) *''The Splendid Silence'' (1927) *''Whispering Lodge'' (1927) *''Under the Northern Lights'' (1928) Short Story collection: **''Trade'' **''The Eyes of Sebastien'' **''The Spirit of the North'' **''The Circuit of the Wild Swan'' **''The Blindness of Pituluk'' **''Motherhood'' **''The Magic of Kahdoosh'' **''The Reward of Kwasind'' **''The Loyalty of Peeguk'' **''The Passing of Chantie, the Curlew'' **''The Affair of Kalauk, the Skilful Hunter'' **''The Salving of Pyack'' *''A Little Way Ahead'' (1930; as Sinclair Murray) *''The Magic Makers'' (1930) *''The Golden Foundling'' (1931) *'' The Great Divide'' (1935) *''With Love from Rachel'' (1938) * ''Three Came to Ville Marie'' (1941) *''Cariboo Road'' (1946)

References

Biography
by John Garvin, dated 1916 #Full e-text o
Under the Northern Lights
hosted b
Project Gutenberg of Australia
#Partial e-text o

hosted b
Mount Royal College
*Gordon D. McLeod. ''Essentially Canadian: The Life and Fiction of Alan Sullivan.'' Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1982.

External links

* * * *
Works by Alan Sullivan
at Digital Archive (

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pub ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Alan 1868 births 1947 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Governor General's Award-winning fiction writers Canadian male novelists Canadian male short story writers Writers from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers