Joyce Hemlow (July 31, 1906 – September 3, 2001) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professor and accomplished writer.

Biography

Joyce Hemlow was born July 31, 1906. Her parents were William and Rosalinda (Redmond) Hemlow of Nova Scotia. She was educated at Queen's University where she received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1941 and an M.A. in 1942, becoming a travelling

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the university until 1943, when she became a fellow of the Canadian Federation of University Women. She then attended

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

in the United States, gaining an A.M. in 1944 and a PhD in 1948. In 1951, she became a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, and, in the summer of 1954, a Nuffeld Fellow. She taught English literature at

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, ...

for most of her career, beginning in 1945, and became the Greenshields Professor of English Language and Literature at McGill in 1965. She also served from 1957 to 1961 as a member of the Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her literary output mainly concerned the Burneys, especially the novelist

Frances Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post of "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Meckle ...

, best profiled in her award-winning book ''The History of Fanny Burney'', which received the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

, the Governor General's Award for Academic Non-Fiction in 1958, and the Rose Mary Crawshay Prize. A small collection of her papers at

documents her teaching activities. She was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

and was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Awards and honours

* Governor General's Award for Academic Non-Fiction in 1958 * Rose Mary Crawshay Prize

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemlow, Joyce 1906 births 2001 deaths Canadian Protestants Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Academic staff of McGill University Queen's University at Kingston alumni Radcliffe College alumni Governor General's Award–winning non-fiction writers Canadian women non-fiction writers James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients