Robert Weaver (January 6, 1921 – January 26, 2008) was an influential Canadian editor and broadcaster.
Born in
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the U.S. state, state ...
and educated at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, Weaver served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. From 1948 to 1985, Robert Weaver worked at the CBC where he created a series of shows that identified and featured then unknown Canadian writers such as
Alice Munro
Alice Ann Munro (; ; born 10 July 1931) is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as revolutionizing the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move f ...
,
Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel '' St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, ...
, and
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
.
In 1956 Weaver founded the ''
Tamarack Review
The ''Tamarack Review'' was a Canadian literary magazine, published from 1956 to 1982. Established and edited by Robert Weaver, other figures associated with the magazine's editorial staff included Anne Wilkinson, William Toye and John Robert C ...
'', a Canadian literary magazine, focus of a literary revival which led to Toronto's overhauling Montreal as the literary capital of English Canada; for example, Weaver annually visited Canadian universities where he had literary friends (mostly from the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
) to encourage undergraduates to publish new poems and stories. Over the course of his career at the CBC, Weaver edited more than a dozen anthologies and initiated the annual CBC Literary Awards in 1979.
In order to maintain his direct contact with writers, Weaver turned down his promotions at the CBC. He accepted the appointment to the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the cen ...
in 2000 after declining it multiple times, stating he was critical of the "three-tier" nature of the award.
Works
*''Canadian short stories''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1952. (with Helen James)
*''Canadian short stories''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1960.
*''The first five years : a selection from the Tamarack review''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1962.
*''Canadian short stories, second series''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1968.
*''The Oxford anthology of Canadian literature''. Toronto : Oxford University Press, 1973.(with William Toye)
*''Canadian short stories, third series.'' Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1978.
*''Small wonders : new stories by 12 distinguished Canadian authors''. Toronto : CBC, 1982.
*''The Oxford book of Canadian short stories in English''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1983. (with Margaret Atwood)
*''The Anthology anthology: a selection from thirty years of CBC-Radio's "Anthology"''. Toronto : Macmillan of Canada, 1984.
*''Canadian short stories, fourth series''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1985.
*''Canadian short stories, fifth series''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1991.
*''The New Oxford book of Canadian short stories in English''. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1995. (with Margaret Atwood)
*''Emergent voices: CBC Canadian Literary Awards stories, 1979-1999''. Fredericton: Goose Lane, c1999.