Ethel Davis Wilson, (January 20, 1888 – December 22, 1980) was a Canadian writer of

short stories 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 ...

and

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 ...

s. Her works include ''Hetty Dorval'' (1947), ''The Innocent Traveller'' (1949), ''Swamp Angel'' (1954) and ''Mrs Golightly and Other Stories'' (1961).

Life

Wilson was born in 1888 in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, to Robert and Lila Bryant. She moved to England with her father in 1890 following the death of her mother. In 1898, after the death of her father, she was taken to live with her maternal grandmother, Annie Malkin in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, but moved back to England at fourteen to attend a school for Methodist ministers' daughters.Canada’s Early Women Writers. ''Ethel Wilson''
Canada’s Early Women Writers
18 May 2018. Ethel eventually returned to Vancouver and received her teacher's certificate a year later in 1907, and for thirteen years taught in Vancouver elementary schools. In 1921 she married Wallace Wilson, President of the

Canadian Medical Association The Canadian Medical Association (CMA; ) is a national, voluntary association of physicians and medical learners that advocates on national health matters. Its primary mandate is to drive positive change in health care by advocating on key hea ...

and professor of medical ethics at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. In 1980 she was hospitalized and was diagnosed with a series of small

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

s. The day before she died, she was in physical distress from passing a

kidney stone Kidney stone disease (known as nephrolithiasis, renal calculus disease, or urolithiasis) is a crystallopathy and occurs when there are too many minerals in the urine and not enough liquid or hydration. This imbalance causes tiny pieces of cr ...

. A doctor injected her with medication to ease the pain.

Writing career

Ethel Wilson's first published work appeared in 1919 as ''The Surprising Adventures of Peter'', a children's serial that ran in the '' Vancouver Daily Province''. Ethel preferred to ignore this debut, and instead later claimed her publishing career began in the 1930s while in the car as her husband made medical calls. It was in this decade that Wilson published a few short stories and began a series of fictionalized family reminiscences which were later published as ''The Innocent Traveller'' (1949). Her first published novel, ''Hetty Dorval'', appeared in 1947, and was followed, seven years later by ''Swamp Angel'' (1954), generally thought of as her most accomplished work. Her final book was ''Mrs Golightly and Other Stories'' (1961). Wilson is known as one of the first Canadian writers to depict the natural beauty of British Columbia. She wrote often of places in British Columbia that were important to her and was able to detail the ruggedness and magic of the landscape. Yet in 1958 at the

, in a talk entitled "An Approach to Some Novels," Wilson stated that there was no school of 'Canadian novel-writing,' nor was one necessary. In her opinion, there were novels written in Canada by Canadians, but these were written with no prescribed formula for what would make a 'Canadian novel.' While Wilson was not overly patriotic in her writing, she did find environment to be very important to her characters. In fact, the connection to place is central in her writings to exploring relationships and the way people react to life. Wilson's characters are observed in relation to the environment. In ''Love and Salt Water,'' she states that "the formidable power of geography determines the character and performance of a people." Wilson is the subject of one work of criticism, ''Ethel Wilson'' by Desmond Pacey, and two biographies, ''The Other Side of Silence: A Life of Ethel Wilson'' by Mary McAlpine and ''Ethel Wilson: A Critical Biography''.

Works

* ''Hetty Dorval'' — 1947 (Republished in 2005 by

Persephone Books ''Persephone Books'' is an independent publisher based in Bath, England. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone Books reprints works largely by women writers of the late 19th and 20th century, though a few books by men are included. Th ...

) * ''The Innocent Traveller'' — 1949 * ''The Equations of Love.'' (Lilly's Story) — 1952 * '' Swamp Angel'' — 1954 * ''Love and Salt Water'' — 1956 * ''Mrs. Golightly and Other Stories'' — 1961 * ''Ethel Wilson: Stories, Essays, and Letters'' — 1987 (edited by David Stouck)

Awards and recognition

For her contribution to

Canadian literature Canadian literature is written in several languages including Canadian English, English, Canadian French, French, and various Indigenous Canadian languages. It is often divided into French- and English-language literatures, which are rooted in th ...

, Wilson was awarded one of the

Governor General's Literary Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual List of awards presented by the governor general of Canada, awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. Th ...

in 1961 and the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

Lorne Pierce Medal The Lorne Pierce Medal is awarded every two years by the Royal Society of Canada to recognize achievement of special significance and conspicuous merit in imaginative or critical literature written in either English or French. The medal was first ...

in 1964. In 1970, she 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 ...

"for her contribution to Canadian literature". The

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, established in 1985 as one of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, is awarded annually to the best work of fiction by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. The award is named after novelist and short story A short ...

is named in her honour.

References

External links

Ethel Wilson's
entry in

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 ...

Author Profile
at Persephone Books

at Persephone Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Ethel 1888 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian women writers Cape Colony emigrants to the United Kingdom British emigrants to Canada Canadian women novelists Canadian women short story writers Officers of the Order of Canada Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Novelists from Vancouver