Elisabeth Harvor
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Erica Elisabeth Arendt Deichmann (26 June 1936 – 8 October 2024), known as Elisabeth Harvor, was a Canadian short story writer, poet, and novelist.


Biography

Harvor was born to Danish immigrant artisans in
Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...
and grew up on the
Kingston Peninsula The Kingston Peninsula is a peninsula in southern New Brunswick, Canada, located between the Saint John River and the Kennebecasis River in Kings County. The peninsula was the site of the first United Empire Loyalist settlement in New Brunsw ...
. She enrolled at
Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...
in 1983, receiving an MA in Creative Writing in 1986. Her thesis, "Hospitals & Night", was published under the title ''If Only We Could Drive like This Forever'' in 1988. Harvor's fiction and poetry was a finalist for and winner of several awards. Her third short story collection, ''Let Me Be the One'', was a finalist for the 1996
Governor General's Literary Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
for English-language fiction. ''Fortress of Chairs,'' her first collection of poems, won the League of Canadian Poets 1992 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for best first book of poetry written by a Canadian. Her second poetry book, ''The Long Cold Green Evenings of Spring,'' was a finalist for the 1997
Pat Lowther Award The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual Canadian literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. The award was established in 1980 to honour poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by ...
, and her first novel, ''Excessive Joy Injures the Heart'', was chosen as one of the ten best books of the year by The Toronto Star in 2000. Harvor also won the 2000
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 Windso ...
Award, the 2003 Marian Engel Award, and in 2004, the Malahat Novella Prize for "Across Some Dark Avenue of Plot He Carried Her Body." In 2015, Harvor won second prize in '' Prairie Fire magazines Fiction category for "An Animal Trainer Urging A Big Cat Out of its Cage". Harvor died on 8 October 2024, at the age of 88.


Bibliography


Short stories

* ''Women and Children'' (Oberon Press, Ottawa, ON, 1973) * ''If Only We Could Drive Like This Forever'' (Penguin Books Canada Limited, Markham, ON, 1988) * ''Our Lady of All The Distances'' (HarperCollins, Toronto, ON, 1991; reissue with minor revisions of ''Women and Children'') * ''Let Me Be the One'' (HarperCollins Publishers Limited, Toronto, ON 1996. Finalist for the
Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
for fiction) * ''Hierarchy'' (Frog Hollow Press, Victoria, BC; New Brunswick Chapbook Series, Volume 12, 2019)


Poetry

* ''Fortress of Chairs'' (Signal Editions, Véhicule Press, Montreal, QC, 1992) Winner of the League of Canadian Poets Gerald Lampert Memorial Award) * ''The Long Cold Green Evenings of Spring'' (Signal Editions, Véhicule Press, Montreal, QC, 1997) * ''An Open Door in the Landscape'' (Palimpsest Press, Windsor, ON, 2010)


Novels

* ''Excessive Joy Injures the Heart'' (McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, ON; Harcourt in the US, 2000) * ''All Times Have Been Modern'' (Viking Canada/Penguin Group, Toronto, ON, 2004)


Anthologies

* ''A Room at the Heart of Things'' (as editor) (Véhicule Press, Montreal, QC, 1998)


References


External links


Elisabeth Harvor at Canadian Poetry Online

Elisabeth Harvor at New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvor, Elisabeth 1936 births 2024 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women poets Canadian women short story writers Concordia University alumni Poets from Ottawa Writers from Saint John, New Brunswick Poets from New Brunswick Novelists from Ottawa Novelists from New Brunswick