John Glassco
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John Glassco (December 15, 1909 – January 29, 1981) was a Canadian poet, memoirist and novelist. According to Stephen Scobie, "Glassco will be remembered for his brilliant autobiography, his elegant, classical poems, and for his translations".Stephen Scobie,
Glassco, John
", ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 906.
He is also remembered by some for his
erotica Erotica is art, literature or photography that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erot ...
.


Life

Born in
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 ...
to a monied family, Glassco, known as "Buffy" to his friends, was educated at
Selwyn House School Selwyn House School (SHS) is an English-language independent K-12 boys' school located in Westmount, Quebec. The school was founded in 1908 by Englishman Captain Algernon Lucas and was named in honour of Selwyn College at the University of C ...
,
Bishop's College School Bishop's College School or BCS is an English-language non-profit independent school, independent boarding school, boarding College-preparatory school, prep school in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada for students in Grades 7 to 12.Thomson, Ashley; L ...
,
Lower Canada College Lower Canada College (LCC) is an English-language Elementary school, elementary and Secondary school, secondary level independent school located in Montreal, Quebec. It is located in the Monkland Village area of the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourho ...
, and
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
.John Glassco
, ''Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature'', Answers.com. Web, March 22, 2011.
At McGill he moved on the fringes of the
Montreal Group The Montreal Group, sometimes referred to as the McGill Group or McGill Movement,Dean Irvine,Montreal Group" ''Oxford Companion to Canadian History''. Answers.com, Web, March 25, 2011. was a circle of Canadian modernist writers formed in the mid-192 ...
of poets centred on that campus, which included
F. R. Scott Francis Reginald Scott (1899–1985), commonly known as Frank Scott or F. R. Scott, was a lawyer, Canadian poet, intellectual, and constitutional scholar. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonw ...
and
A.J.M. Smith Arthur James Marshall Smith (November 8, 1902 – November 21, 1980) was a Canadian poet and anthologist. He "was a prominent member of a group of Montreal poets" – the Montreal Group, which included Leon Edel, Leo Kennedy, A. M. Klei ...
. Glassco wrote for the ''McGill Fortnightly Review'' with Scott, Smith, and
Leon Edel Joseph Leon Edel (1907 – 1997) was an American/Canadian literary critic and biographer. He was the elder brother of North American philosopher Abraham Edel. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' calls Edel "the foremost 20th-century authority ...
. At the age of 17, Glassco left McGill without graduating to travel to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
with his friend, Graeme Taylor. The two settled in the
Montparnasse Montparnasse () is an area in the south of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail. It is split betwee ...
district of Paris, then extremely popular amongst the literary intelligentsia. Their three-year stay formed the basis of Glassco's ''Memoirs of Montparnasse'' (1970), a description of expatriate life in Paris during the 1920s. The book is presented as a genuine memoir, although Glassco had lightly fictionalized some aspects of the work. In it, he describes meeting various celebrities who were living in or passing through Paris at the time, such as
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
,
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
,
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...
,
Alice B. Toklas Alice Babette Toklas (April 30, 1877 – March 7, 1967) was an American-born member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century, and the life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein. Early life Alice B. Toklas was born in San F ...
,
Ford Madox Ford Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals ''The English Review'' and ''The Transatlantic Review (1924), The Transatlant ...
,
Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1856 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...
,
Lord Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford University he edited an undergraduate journal, ''The Spirit Lamp'', that carr ...
and others. In the notes to the edition republished in 2007, further characters are identified as thinly disguised descriptions of
Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...
,
Peggy Guggenheim Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( ; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemianism, bohemian, and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who we ...
and others. Glassco was bisexual, and, in the words of Leon Edel, "a bit frightened by certain kinds of women and nearly always delighted if he could establish a triangle." In 1931 Glassco contracted
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
, which caused him to return home to Canada, where he was hospitalized. In 1935, after having a lung removed, he retired to the town of Foster in Quebec's
Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...
. He served as mayor of Foster from 1952 to 1954. Glassco died on January 29, 1981, at the age of 71, in Montreal.


Writing


Poetry

Glassco went on to earn a strong reputation as a poet. His ''Selected Poems'' won Canada's top honour for poetry, 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 ...
, in
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
. The ''Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature'' says of his poetry:


Translations

Glassco translated both poetry and fiction from French. He edited the 1970 anthology ''The Poetry of French Canada in Translation'', in which he personally translated texts by 37 different poets. He also translated the work of three French-Canadian novelists: Monique Bosco (''Lot's wife'' / ''La femme de Loth'', 1975) Jean-Yves Soucy (''Creature of the chase'' / ''Un dieu chasseur'', 1979), and
Jean-Charles Harvey Jean-Charles and Jean-Carles is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Jean Charles, Chevalier Folard (1669–1752), French soldier and military author * Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand (1817–1891), French engineer * ...
(''Fear's folly'' / ''Les demi-civilisés'', 1982). ''
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 ...
'' says that Glassco's "translations of French Canadian poetry are, along with
F. R. Scott Francis Reginald Scott (1899–1985), commonly known as Frank Scott or F. R. Scott, was a lawyer, Canadian poet, intellectual, and constitutional scholar. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonw ...
's, the finest yet to appear — his greatest achievement being the ''Complete Poems of Saint-Denys-Garneau'' (1975)." Glassco also edited the 1965 anthology ''English poetry in Quebec'', which originated from a poetry conference held in Foster in 1963.


Erotica

Glassco's long poem ''Squire Hardman'', on the subject of
flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, floggin ...
, was privately printed in 1967. The poem was inspired by '' The Rodiad'' (1871), falsely ascribed to George Colman the Younger, and Glassco continued the hoax by claiming that his own poem was a republication of an 18th-century original by Colman. Glassco's ''The Temple of Pederasty'', on the theme of
sado-masochism Sadism () and masochism (), known collectively as sadomasochism ( ) or S&M, is the derivation of pleasure from acts of respectively inflicting or receiving pain or humiliation. The term is named after the Marquis de Sade, a French author known ...
and male
homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
, was similarly ascribed to
Ihara Saikaku was a Japanese poet and creator of the " floating world" genre of Japanese prose (''ukiyo-zōshi''). His born name may have been Hirayama Tōgo (平山藤五), the son of a wealthy merchant in Osaka, and he first studied haikai poetry under a ...
with "translation" by the wholly fictitious "Hideki Okada".Hamill (2009) p.288 Glassco also used the pseudonym "Sylvia Bayer" to publish ''Fetish Girl'', on the theme of rubber fetishism. He wrote ''The English Governess'' (
Ophelia Press Olympia Press was a Paris-based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebranded version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father Jack Kahane. It published a mix of erotic fiction and avant-garde literary fiction, and is be ...
, 1960) and ''Harriet Marwood, Governess'' (1967) under yet another pseudonym, "Miles Underwood". Glassco completed the unfinished pornographic novel '' Under the Hill'' by
Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...
, in an edition published by the
Olympia Press Olympia Press was a Paris-based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebranded version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father Jack Kahane. It published a mix of erotic fiction and avant-garde literary fiction, and is ...
in 1959.


Publications


Poetry

* ''The Deficit Made Flesh: Poems''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart,
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...
. * ''A Point of Sky''. Toronto:
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
,
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
. ( Finalist, in 1965, of the Grand prix littéraire de Montréal) * ''Selected Poems''. Toronto:
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
,
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
. * ''Montreal''. Montreal:
DC Books DC Books is a book publisher based in Kerala, India. It publishes books in Malayalam. DC Books DC Books is a publisher and bookseller with headquarters in Kottayam, Kerala, India. It has published over 6,500 titles, mainly literature in Malay ...
,
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
. * ''Selected Poems with Three Notes on the Poetic Process''. Ottawa: Golden Dog Press,
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
.


Memoirs

* ''Memoirs of Montparnasse'', Leon Edel intr. Toronto, New York: Oxford UP, 1970. Louis Begley intr. New York: New York Review Books Classics, 2007


Pornography

* and Aubrey Beardsley. ''Under the Hill; or the story of Venus and Tannhauser.'' Paris: Olympia, 1959. *''The English Governess.'' as "Miles Underwood." Paris: Ophelia, 1960. * ''Harriet Marwood, Governess.'' New York: Grove P, 1968. * ''Fetish Girl.'' New York: Venus Library, 1971. *''The Fatal Woman: Three Tales.'' Toronto: Anansi, 1974.Search results: John Glassco, Open Library, Web, May 9, 2011.


Translated

* ''Complete Poems of Saint-Denys Garneau.'' Ottawa: Oberon, 1975.


Edited

* ''English Poetry in Quebec'',
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
. * ''Poetry of French Canada in Translation''. Toronto: Oxford UP,
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
.


See also

* Prix de la traduction John-Glassco, donated by the
Literary Translators' Association of Canada The Literary Translators' Association of Canada (LTAC) (or, in French language, French, ''Association des traducteurs et traductrices littéraires du Canada'' (ATTLC)) is an association of literary translation, translators from across Canada. The ...
*
List of Bishop's College School alumni Bishop's College School, a private secondary school founded in 1836 in the Borough of Lennoxville, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada owns an Old boy network. Former male students are referred to as BCS Old Boys and former King's Hall, Compton & BCS fem ...


Notes


References

* * *


External links


''Canadian Poetry: Studies/Documents/Reviews'', No. 13 (Fall/Winter, 1983)
In Memorabilia Mortis John Glassco (1909–1981). *
The English Governess
', by "Miles Underwood" * Archives of John Glassc
(John Glassco fonds, R4070)
are held at
Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glassco, John 1909 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets 20th-century Canadian novelists Anglophone Quebec people Bisexual male writers Bishop's College School alumni Canadian male novelists Governor General's Award–winning poets Poets from Montreal Bisexual memoirists Canadian LGBTQ poets Canadian LGBTQ novelists McGill University alumni Canadian male non-fiction writers 20th-century Canadian memoirists 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian bisexual men Canadian bisexual writers Bisexual novelists Selwyn House School alumni Novelists from Montreal