Eli Mandel (December 3, 1922 – September 3, 1992) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 wri ...

, editor of many

anthologies, and literary academic.

Biography

Eli Mandel died in relative obscurity. A series of

strokes A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop funct ...

had left him unable to write and, as a result, Mandel had receded from public view long before his death. He was born Elias Wolf Mandel in Estevan,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, Canada to

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

parents who had emigrated from the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, and grew up the

Canadian prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

during the Great Depression.Sharon Drache, "Mandel, Eli," ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton:Hurtig, 1988), 1290. After a job working for a pharmacist who, landed him a position serving in Canada's

Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of medica ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

,Kizuk, R. Alexander. "Desert Words: Eli Mandel’s Poetry" http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/cpjrn/vol49/kizuk.htm it has been said Mandel returned a forever emotionally distraught man who was destined to live the rest of his life without a sense of belonging. This helps explain the alienation that is illustrated throughout his writings. He studied

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

at the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

attaining a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in 1950. He received a PhD from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

in 1957.Colin Boyd,
Mandel, Eli
" ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' Web, July 10, 2006. From 1953 to 1957, Mandel taught at the

Royal Military College Saint-Jean , mottoeng = Truth, Duty, Valour , established = 1952 , type = Military college , chancellor = Anita Anand (''ex officio'' as Defence Minister) , principal = Command ...

. Later, he taught English and

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

, University of Toronto, and

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. He also taught Canadian studies at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

. Besides his poetry, he wrote other critical works such as his 1969 essay on fellow poet Irving Layton. He was married to his first wife,

Miriam Mandel Miriam Mandel (June 24, 1930 – February 13, 1982) was a Canadian poet who won Canada's Governor General's Award. Early life Miriam Mandel was born in Rockglen, Saskatchewan. She gained her B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan in 19 ...

, for 18 years. The couple had two children, Evie and Charles. In 1967 they divorced and he married Ann Hardy. They had one child, Sara. Publishing poetry in the early 1950s, Eli Mandel's first significant collection was entitled ''Minotaur poems'' (1954), and it appeared in the contact press anthology ''Trio'' (1954). His poetry was published in 1954 in ''Trio,'' an anthology of poems by Mandel,

Gael Turnbull Gael Turnbull (7 April 1928 – 2 July 2004) was a Scottish poet who was an important figure in the British Poetry Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. Biography Turnbull was born in Edinburgh and grew up in Northern England and in Canada, where he ...

, and

Phyllis Webb Phyllis Webb (April 8, 1927 – November 11, 2021) was a Canadian poet and broadcaster. Webb's poetry had diverse influences, ranging from neo-Confucianism to the field theory of composition developed by the Black Mountain poets. Critics have ...

published by

Raymond Souster Raymond Holmes Souster (January 15, 1921 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian poet whose writing career spanned over 70 years. More than 50 volumes of his own poetry were published during his lifetime, and he edited or co-edited a dozen volumes ...

's Contact Press.Phyllis Webb
" Canadian Women Poets, BrockU.ca, Web, Apr. 12, 2011 His first book was ''Fuseli poems'' (1960). His works seem to have been deeply influenced by

, especially all the horrors of the Jewish

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. Despite the lack of direct references to the war until ''Stony Plain'' (1973), his work illustrates many grim and morbid images of despair, destruction written with a tone of inescapable pessimism. Mandel's style was contemplative and intellectual - "an ironic poet, rather than an angry one". The lack of emotion heightens a hopeless outlook, a central feature in all of his writing. His early works appear to have been written for "a scholarly rather than public audience" due to their literary complexity. In his later work, however, starting with the poetry of ''Black and Secret Man'' (1964), Mandel simplifies the syntax and uses more colloquial language. While the thoughtful view remained as it was in his earlier work, a wittier tone replaced the previously somber one. He was also a critic and editor, producing a monograph on his fellow-poet Irving Layton, and an anthology, ''Poetry62/Poésie62''(1962), which he co-edited with

Jean-Guy Pilon Jean-Guy Pilon, (12 November 1930 – 27 April 2021 Al Purdy Alfred Wellington Purdy (December 30, 1918 – April 21, 2000) was a 20th-century Canadian free verse poet. Purdy's writing career spanned fifty-six years. His works include thirty-nine books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four b ...

Milton Acorn Milton James Rhode Acorn (March 30, 1923 – August 20, 1986), nicknamed ''The People's Poet'' by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. Early life He was born in Prince Edward Island, and grew up in Charlottetown. He joined th ...

, D. G. Jones and

Alden Nowlan Alden Albert Nowlan (; January 25, 1933 – June 27, 1983) was a Canadian poet, novelist, and playwright. History Alden Nowlan was born into rural poverty in Stanley, Nova Scotia, adjacent to Mosherville, and close to the small town of Windsor ...

Critical Reception

Eli Mandel's book,'' The Family Romance'' (1986), has been characterized by his quotations from essays on

Hugh MacLennan John Hugh MacLennan (March 20, 1907 – November 9, 1990) was a Canadian writer and professor of English at McGill University. He won five Governor General's Awards and a Royal Bank Award. Family and childhood MacLennan was born in Glace B ...

and

Northrop Frye Herman Northrop Frye (July 14, 1912 – January 23, 1991) was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century. Frye gained international fame with his first book, '' Fearful Symm ...

’s The Great Code. Both excerpts exemplify Mandel’s questioning of whatever is viewed as orthodoxy. He refuses to let pass what most people simply accept. In this essay collection, it has been recognized that the first piece, ''Auschwitz and Poetry'', is the most powerful and significant and the last of this series of essays, ''The Border League: American ‘West’ and Canadian ‘Region’'', seems to be the least successful. The compilation of Mandel’s work, ''The Other Harmony: the Collected Poetry of Eli Mandel'', is a two volume collection, with the first including Mandel’s contributions to ''Trio'', as well has his books ''Fuseli Poems'', ''An Idiot Joy'', ''Stony Plain'', and others. It has been acknowledged as the more noteworthy of the two volumes in terms of its primary material. Eli Mandel's literary papers are held by the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections.

Recognition

Mandel won the 1968 Governor General's Award for ''An Idiot Joy''.Eli Mandel
" Online Guide to Writing in Canada, track0.com, Web, May 1, 2011. In 1982 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1989 he was made an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

by York University.

Publications

Poetry

* 1954: ''Trio: First Poems by Gael Turnbull, Phyllis Webb, and Eli Mandel''. Toronto: Contact Press, 1954. * 1960: ''Fuseli Poems'' * ''Black and Secret Man''. (Toronto: Ryerson, 1964) * 1967: ''An Idiot Joy'' (Hurtig) * ''Crusoe: Poems Selected and New'' (Toronto: Anansi, 1973) * 1973: ''Stony Plain'' (Porcepic) * 1977: ''Out Of Place'' (Porcepic) * 1981: ''Life Sentence: Poems and Journals: 1976-1980'' * 2000: ''The Other Harmony: The Collected Poetry of Eli Mandel'', compilation (Canadian Plains Research Centre)

Criticism

* 1966: ''Criticism: The Silent-Speaking Words, Eight Talks for CBC Radio'' (CBC Publications) * 1969: ''Irving Layton'' (Forum House), edited by William French * 1977: ''Another Time'' (Porcepic) * 1986: ''The Family Romance'' (Turnstone)

Other works

* 1981: ''Dreaming Backwards'', compilation of revisions from 1954 to 1981 (General)

Edited

*''Poets of Contemporary Canada,'' Toronto: McClelland & Stewart (New Canadian Library).

Discography

* 2001: ''Celebration: Famous Canadian Poets CD'' Canadian Poetry Association — (CD#2) (with

Dorothy Livesay Dorothy Kathleen May Livesay, (October 12, 1909 – December 29, 1996) was a Canadian poet who twice won the Governor General's Award in the 1940s, and was "senior woman writer in Canada" during the 1970s and 1980s.Mathews, R.D.. "Dorothy L ...

)

References

* Kizuk, R. Alexander. "Desert Words: Eli Mandel’s Poetry" http://www.uwo.ca/english/canadianpoetry/cpjrn/vol49/kizuk.htm * M. Casey, Diana. "Eli Mandel" Great Neck Publishing * * * Matthews, Lawrence. "The Martian of Estevan". ECW Press Ltd, 2001 * * * * *

Notes

External links

OneZeroZero: Eli Mandel
accessed 10 July 2006
Sask 2005: Eli Mandel profile
accessed 10 July 2006
University of Manitoba collections: Eli Mandel fonds summary
accessed 10 July 2006
Mandel

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

accessed 20 November 2019
"A Little More on Eli Mandel's Greatness
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandel, Eli 1922 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Jewish Canadian writers Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Governor General's Award-winning poets Jewish poets People from Estevan Writers from Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan alumni University of Toronto alumni York University faculty 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian military personnel of World War II