Ernest Buckler (19 July 1908 – 4 March 1984) was a Canadian

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer best known for his 1952 novel, ''The Mountain and the Valley'' and the short story ''The first born Son''. "Since its publication in 1954, Ernest Buckler's story of David Canaan's life in the Annapolis Valley, ''The Mountain and the Valley'', has gradually established itself as a touchstone of Canadian Modernism. Its continuing presence in Canadian Literature courses and its effect on such writers as Margaret Laurence and Alice Munro attest to its power as a novel exploring imaginative experience." (Van Rys 1995) Buckler was born in the village of West Dalhousie,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, where he attended a one-room schoolhouse. He was a scholarship student at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

( B.A., 1929), and a

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

student at the

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

( M.A., 1930). After graduation, he stayed in

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, working as an

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, until 1936, when he returned to rural Nova Scotia, eventually settling on a farm in Centrelea near

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. In 1967, he was awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal and in 1974, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. In 1978, he was awarded the Leacock Medal for ''Whirligig''.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' The Mountain and the Valley.''

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: Henry Holt, 1952. * ''The Cruelest Month'', 1963.

Other works

* ''Ox Bells and Fireflies: A Memoir.''

: McClelland and Stewart, 1968; New York: Knopf, 1968. * ''

: Window on the Sea.'' Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1973. * ''The Rebellion of Young David and Other Stories.'' Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975. * ''Whirligig.'' Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977. * ''The Harness'' * ''The Locket'' * ''Penny in the Dust'', 1927. * ''The Clumsy One'' * ''The Bars and the Bridge'' * ''Long, Long After School''

References

* Lecker, Robert and Jack David. ''The Annotated

Bibliography Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

of Canada's Major Authors, volume III.'' * Van Rys, John C.. Diminishing Voice in Buckler's The Mountain and the Valley. Studies in Canadian Literature, .l. jan. 1995. ISSN 1718-7850.

External links

Ernest Buckler
at ''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

''
Ernest Buckler
at '' The Literary Encyclopedia''
Ernest Buckler: A Remarkable Nova Scotia Novelist
at '' Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management'' * . Date accessed: 15 Feb. 2015. 1908 births 1984 deaths Canadian male novelists University of Toronto alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Stephen Leacock Award winners 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers People from Annapolis County, Nova Scotia Novelists from Nova Scotia {{Canada-novelist-stub