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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

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

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History

Born in St. George's Rectory,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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

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. 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, Illinois during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left mor ...

. 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,

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. After this he did

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exploration work in the West, and later worked in

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

. He was assistant

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

in the Clergue enterprises at

Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie may refer to: People * Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, a Native American tribe in Michigan Places * Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada ** Sault Ste. Marie (federal electoral district), a Canadian federal electora ...

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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

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district during the period of its

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exploitation.

Writing

He gained recognition in the United States through his

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

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

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'', the ''

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'', 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 an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

''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 Sto ...

'' 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) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2023 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other public library system internationally, making i ...

) {{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 Poets 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 Novelists from Montreal