Irving Layton
Encyclopedia
Irving Peter Layton, OC
(March 12, 1912 – January 4, 2006) was a Romania
n-born Canadian
poet
. He was known for his "tell it like it is" style which won him a wide following but also made enemies. As T. Jacobs notes in his biography (2001), Layton fought Puritanism
throughout his life:
, a small town in Romania
, to Jewish parents, Moses and Klara Lazarovitch. He migrated with his family to Montreal, Quebec in 1913 and was forced to live in the impoverished St. Urbain Street
neighbourhood, later made famous by the novels of Mordecai Richler
. There Layton and his family (his father died when he was 13) faced daily struggles with, among others, Montreal's French Canadians, who were uncomfortable with the growing numbers of Jewish newcomers. Layton, however, identified himself not as an observant Jew but rather as a freethinker
.
Layton graduated from Alexandra Elementary School and attended Baron Byng High School
, where his life was changed when he was introduced to such poets as Tennyson, Walter Scott
, Wordsworth
, Byron, and Shelley
; the novelists Jane Austen
and George Eliot
; the essayists Francis Bacon
, Oliver Goldsmith
, Samuel Johnson
, and Jonathan Swift
; and also Shakespeare
and Darwin
. He was befriended by David Lewis
and became very interested in politics and social theory. He joined the Young People's Socialist League
or YPSL (commonly pronounced "Yipsel"), which Lewis led. He began reading Karl Marx
and Nietzsche. His activities in YPSL were deemed a threat to the high school administration and was asked to leave before graduating in 1930. It was Lewis who introduced Layton to A.M. Klein. Lewis asked Klein to be Layton's Latin tutor so he could pass the junior matriculation exams. Lewis gave him $10 to pay the fee for the exam and he passed. It was also during his time with Klein that he became interested in the sound of poetry.
Klein published Layton's first poem in The McGilliad
, the underground campus journal he was editing at McGill University
.
(McGill) in 1934 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture
.
While in college, he was well known in artistic circles for his anti-bourgeois attitudes and his criticism of politics. He quickly found that his true interest was poetry, so he pursued a career as a poet,
and soon became friends with the emerging young poets of his day, including fellow Canadian poets John Sutherland
, Raymond Souster
, and Louis Dudek
. In the 1940s, Layton and his fellow Canadian poets rejected the older generation of poets, as well as critic Northrop Frye
; their efforts helped define the tone of the post-war generation poets in Canada. Essentially, they argued that English Canadian poets should set their own style, independent of British styles and influences, and should reflect the social realities of the day.
In 1936, Layton met Faye Lynch, whom he married in 1938. When Layton graduated from Macdonald College in 1939, he moved with Faye to Halifax
where he worked odd jobs, including a stint as a Fuller Brush man. Soon disenchanted with his life, Layton decided, one evening, to return to Montreal. He began teaching English to recent immigrants to make ends meet and continued doing so for many years.
Indecisive about his future and enraged by Hitler's violence toward Jews and destruction of European culture, Layton enlisted in the Canadian army in 1942. While serving at Petawawa, Layton met Betty Sutherland, an accomplished painter (and later poet), and a half-sister to actor Donald Sutherland
. Layton soon divorced Faye and married Betty. They had two children together: Max Reuben (1946) and Naomi Parker (1950). In 1943, Layton was given an honourable discharge from the army and returned to Montreal, where he became involved with several literary magazines including the seminal Northern Review
, which he co-edited with John Sutherland
.
Layton's involvement with David Lewis
and the Young People's Socialist League
matured into being active in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
(Lewis was the National Secretary at the time). Because of his YPSL activities he was blacklisted in the 1930s and banned from entering the United States
for the next two decades. While for a time he still considered himself a Marxist
, he became anti-Communist
at the lectures Lewis gave at YPSL and broke with many on the left with his support of the Vietnam War
. (Source: Toronto Star, January 5, 2006)
By the mid-1950s, Layton's activism and poetry had made him a staple on the CBC
televised debating program "Fighting Words," where he earned a reputation as a formidable debater. The publication of A Red Carpet For The Sun in 1959 secured Layton's national reputation while the many books of poetry which followed eventually gave him an international reputation, never as high however in the United States and Britain as it was in some countries where Layton was read in translation.
In 1946 Layton received an M.A. in economics and political science from McGill (with a thesis on Harold Laski
). Three years later he began teaching English, history, and political science at the Jewish parochial high school Herzliah (a branch of the United Talmud Torahs of Montreal
). He was an influential teacher and some of his students became writers and artists. Among his students was television magnate Moses Znaimer
. Layton continued to teach for the greater part of his life: as a teacher of modern English and American poetry at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) and as a tenured professor at Toronto's York University
in the 1970s, as well as delivering many lectures and readings throughout Canada. Layton pursued his Ph.D. in 1948 though he abandoned it due to the demands of his already hectic professional life.
In the late 1950s, friends introduced Layton to Aviva Cantor, who had emigrated to Montreal from her native Australia in 1955. After several years of painful indecision, Layton and Betty separated and Layton moved in with Aviva. The two had a son, David, in 1964. Though Layton remained legally married to Betty his relationship with Aviva lasted more than twenty years, ending only in the late 1970s when Aviva left.
. He died at the Maimonides Geriatric Centre in Montreal at the age of 93 on January 4, 2006.
and Italy
. In 1981 these two nations nominated him for the Nobel Prize for Literature. (The prize that year was instead awarded to novelist Gabriel García Márquez
) Among his many awards during his career was the Governor-General's Award for A Red Carpet for the Sun in 1959. In 1976 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
. He was the first non-Italian to be awarded the Petrarch Award for Poetry.
In his lifetime Layton attracted some criticism for his bluster, self-promotion and long-windedness. He is remembered by many as one of the first Canadian rebels of poetry, politics, and philosophy. At Layton's funeral, Leonard Cohen
, Moses Znaimer
and David Solway
were among those who gave eulogies.
A street in Montreal has been named Irving Layton Avenue. Irving Layton Avenue is located behind St. Richards Church and close to the corner of Guelph Rd. and Parkhaven Ave.
An online scholarly journal, "The Bull Calf" (founded by Kait Pinder and J. A. Weingarten), is named in honour of Layton's famous poem of the same name.
He is considered Leonard Cohen
's literary mentor. Leonard Cohen once said of Layton, "I taught him how to dress, he taught me how to live forever."
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy University of Toronto.
Except where noted, discographical information courtesy University of Toronto.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(March 12, 1912 – January 4, 2006) was a Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n-born Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He was known for his "tell it like it is" style which won him a wide following but also made enemies. As T. Jacobs notes in his biography (2001), Layton fought Puritanism
Religious fanaticism
Religious fanaticism is fanaticism related to a person's, or a group's, devotion to a religion. However, religious fanaticism is a subjective evaluation defined by the culture context that is performing the evaluation. What constitutes fanaticism in another's behavior or belief is determined by the...
throughout his life:
Early life
Irving Layton was born on March 12, 1912 as Israel Pincu Lazarovitch in Târgu NeamţTârgu Neamt
Târgu Neamţ is a town in Neamţ County, Romania, on the Neamţ River. It had, , a population of 20,496. Three villages are administered by the town: Blebea, Humuleşti and Humuleştii Noi.- History :...
, a small town in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, to Jewish parents, Moses and Klara Lazarovitch. He migrated with his family to Montreal, Quebec in 1913 and was forced to live in the impoverished St. Urbain Street
Saint Urbain Street
St. Urbain Street is a major one-way street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The street has historically been home to Montreal's well-established Jewish community, who settled in the area at the turn of the 20th century. Writer Mordecai Richler often documents what life was like on this street...
neighbourhood, later made famous by the novels of Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler, CC was a Canadian Jewish author, screenwriter and essayist. A leading critic called him "the great shining star of his Canadian literary generation" and a pivotal figure in the country's history. His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Barney's Version,...
. There Layton and his family (his father died when he was 13) faced daily struggles with, among others, Montreal's French Canadians, who were uncomfortable with the growing numbers of Jewish newcomers. Layton, however, identified himself not as an observant Jew but rather as a freethinker
Freethought
Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...
.
Layton graduated from Alexandra Elementary School and attended Baron Byng High School
Baron Byng High School
Baron Byng High School was located at 4251 St. Urbain Street, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was named after the Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, the Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926. Byng was a World War I hero at the battle of Vimy Ridge, an important battle...
, where his life was changed when he was introduced to such poets as Tennyson, Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
, Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
, Byron, and Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
; the novelists Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
and George Eliot
George Eliot
Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
; the essayists Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith
Oliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
, Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
, and Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
; and also Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
. He was befriended by David Lewis
David Lewis (politician)
David Lewis, CC was a Russian-born Canadian labour lawyer and social democratic politician. He was national secretary of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1936 to 1950, and one of the key architects of the New Democratic Party in 1961...
and became very interested in politics and social theory. He joined the Young People's Socialist League
Young People's Socialist League (1907)
The Young People's Socialist League , founded in 1907, was the official youth arm of the Socialist Party of America. Its political activities tend to concentrate on increasing the voter turnout of young democratic socialists and affecting the issues impacting that demographic group.- Foundation and...
or YPSL (commonly pronounced "Yipsel"), which Lewis led. He began reading Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
and Nietzsche. His activities in YPSL were deemed a threat to the high school administration and was asked to leave before graduating in 1930. It was Lewis who introduced Layton to A.M. Klein. Lewis asked Klein to be Layton's Latin tutor so he could pass the junior matriculation exams. Lewis gave him $10 to pay the fee for the exam and he passed. It was also during his time with Klein that he became interested in the sound of poetry.
Klein and I met once weekly at Fletcher's Field just across from the YHMA [sic] on Mt. Royal Avenue, and I vividly recall the first lesson: Virgil's Aeneid, Book II:I'
...hearing Klein roll off the Virgilian hexameters in a beautiful orotund voice that rose above the traffic, I think it was then that I realized how lovely and very moving the sound of poetry could be. I must confess my Latin wasn't sufficient to appreciate the sense that Virgil was making with his marvelous hexameters, but Klein's zeal and enthusiasm, his forceful delivery, his very genuine love of language, of poetry, all came through to me at that time. And I think that was most fortunate for me. ...
Klein published Layton's first poem in The McGilliad
Montreal Group
The Montreal Group was a circle of Canadian modernist writers formed in the mid-1920s at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, which included Leon Edel, John Glassco, A.M. Klein, Leo Kennedy, F.R. Scott, and A.J.M. Smith. Most of the group's members attended McGill as undergraduates. Due to this...
, the underground campus journal he was editing at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
.
Emerging poet: the 1930s and 1940s
In light of his limited educational opportunities, with no high school diploma, and also due to limited finances, he enrolled in Macdonald CollegeMacdonald Campus
The Macdonald Campus of McGill University houses its Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, and the McGill School of Environment.- History :...
(McGill) in 1934 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
.
While in college, he was well known in artistic circles for his anti-bourgeois attitudes and his criticism of politics. He quickly found that his true interest was poetry, so he pursued a career as a poet,
and soon became friends with the emerging young poets of his day, including fellow Canadian poets John Sutherland
John Sutherland (Canadian writer)
John Sutherland was a Canadian poet, literary critic, and magazine editor based in Montreal, Quebec. Although he published numerous poems of his own, he was perhaps better known as the founder and editor of two important Canadian literary magazines, First Statement and Northern Review...
, Raymond Souster
Raymond Souster
Raymond Holmes Souster, OC is a Canadian poet whose writing career spans almost 70 years. He has published more than 50 volumes of his own verse, and edited or co-edited a dozen volumes of others' poetry...
, and Louis Dudek
Louis Dudek
Louis Dudek, OC was a Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism. He was the author of over two dozen books...
. In the 1940s, Layton and his fellow Canadian poets rejected the older generation of poets, as well as critic Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
; their efforts helped define the tone of the post-war generation poets in Canada. Essentially, they argued that English Canadian poets should set their own style, independent of British styles and influences, and should reflect the social realities of the day.
In 1936, Layton met Faye Lynch, whom he married in 1938. When Layton graduated from Macdonald College in 1939, he moved with Faye to Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
where he worked odd jobs, including a stint as a Fuller Brush man. Soon disenchanted with his life, Layton decided, one evening, to return to Montreal. He began teaching English to recent immigrants to make ends meet and continued doing so for many years.
Indecisive about his future and enraged by Hitler's violence toward Jews and destruction of European culture, Layton enlisted in the Canadian army in 1942. While serving at Petawawa, Layton met Betty Sutherland, an accomplished painter (and later poet), and a half-sister to actor Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
. Layton soon divorced Faye and married Betty. They had two children together: Max Reuben (1946) and Naomi Parker (1950). In 1943, Layton was given an honourable discharge from the army and returned to Montreal, where he became involved with several literary magazines including the seminal Northern Review
Northern Review
Northern Review was a Montreal-based literary magazine published in Canada between 1945 and 1956. It resulted from the merger between two earlier magazines, Preview and First Statement, both of which were also Montreal-based. Poet and literary critic John Sutherland, who founded First Statement,...
, which he co-edited with John Sutherland
John Sutherland
John Andrew Sutherland is an English academic, emeritus professor, newspaper columnist and author.John Sutherland is now Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London. After graduating from the University of Leicester in 1964, he began his academic...
.
Layton's involvement with David Lewis
David Lewis (politician)
David Lewis, CC was a Russian-born Canadian labour lawyer and social democratic politician. He was national secretary of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation from 1936 to 1950, and one of the key architects of the New Democratic Party in 1961...
and the Young People's Socialist League
Young People's Socialist League
The Young People's Socialist League , founded in 1989, is the official youth arm of the Socialist Party USA. The group's membership consists of those democratic socialists under the age of 30, and its political activities tend to concentrate on increasing the voter turnout of young democratic...
matured into being active in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
(Lewis was the National Secretary at the time). Because of his YPSL activities he was blacklisted in the 1930s and banned from entering the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the next two decades. While for a time he still considered himself a Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
, he became anti-Communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
at the lectures Lewis gave at YPSL and broke with many on the left with his support of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. (Source: Toronto Star, January 5, 2006)
1950s: International "stardom"
"Of the poets who emerged in Montréal during this period," of the early 1950s (says the Canadian Encyclopedia), "Layton was the most outspoken and flamboyant. His satire was generally directed against bourgeois dullness, and his famous love poems were erotically explicit."By the mid-1950s, Layton's activism and poetry had made him a staple on the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
televised debating program "Fighting Words," where he earned a reputation as a formidable debater. The publication of A Red Carpet For The Sun in 1959 secured Layton's national reputation while the many books of poetry which followed eventually gave him an international reputation, never as high however in the United States and Britain as it was in some countries where Layton was read in translation.
In 1946 Layton received an M.A. in economics and political science from McGill (with a thesis on Harold Laski
Harold Laski
Harold Joseph Laski was a British Marxist, political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, who served as the chairman of the Labour Party during 1945-1946, and was a professor at the LSE from 1926 to 1950....
). Three years later he began teaching English, history, and political science at the Jewish parochial high school Herzliah (a branch of the United Talmud Torahs of Montreal
United Talmud Torahs of Montreal
United Talmud Torahs of Montreal is a private coed Jewish day school system that includes an elementary and a high school on two campuses; One located in the Saint Laurent borough, the other in the Snowdon neighbourhood of the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough in Montreal, Quebec...
). He was an influential teacher and some of his students became writers and artists. Among his students was television magnate Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer, M.A., O.Ont is a co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.-Early life and career:...
. Layton continued to teach for the greater part of his life: as a teacher of modern English and American poetry at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) and as a tenured professor at Toronto's York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
in the 1970s, as well as delivering many lectures and readings throughout Canada. Layton pursued his Ph.D. in 1948 though he abandoned it due to the demands of his already hectic professional life.
In the late 1950s, friends introduced Layton to Aviva Cantor, who had emigrated to Montreal from her native Australia in 1955. After several years of painful indecision, Layton and Betty separated and Layton moved in with Aviva. The two had a son, David, in 1964. Though Layton remained legally married to Betty his relationship with Aviva lasted more than twenty years, ending only in the late 1970s when Aviva left.
Later years
It was in the immediate aftermath of this experience that Layton finally divorced Betty and, after a whirlwind courtship, married Harriet Bernstein, a former student. In 1981 a daughter, Samantha Clara, was born. The marriage was short-lived, however, and ended in a bitterly contested divorce. Layton then met Anna (Annette) Pottier and invited her to be his housekeeper, although it soon became apparent that she would play a far greater role in his life. Although 48 years his junior she became his fifth and last wife. They lived briefly in Niagara-on-the-Lake in the fall of 1982 and then spent nearly a year in Oakville, Ontario, before moving, at the end of 1983, to the Montreal district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. It was here that Layton wrote his memoir Waiting For the Messiah and with Anna's support saw to the publication of his final books and translations. The couple eventually agreed that Anna needed to begin a life of her own, and she moved out on March 1, 1995. Friends took care of Layton after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's diseaseAlzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. He died at the Maimonides Geriatric Centre in Montreal at the age of 93 on January 4, 2006.
Recognition
Throughout the 1950s and on into the early 1990s Layton travelled widely abroad and became especially popular in South KoreaSouth Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. In 1981 these two nations nominated him for the Nobel Prize for Literature. (The prize that year was instead awarded to novelist Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
) Among his many awards during his career was the Governor-General's Award for A Red Carpet for the Sun in 1959. In 1976 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. He was the first non-Italian to be awarded the Petrarch Award for Poetry.
In his lifetime Layton attracted some criticism for his bluster, self-promotion and long-windedness. He is remembered by many as one of the first Canadian rebels of poetry, politics, and philosophy. At Layton's funeral, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer
Moses Znaimer, M.A., O.Ont is a co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia.-Early life and career:...
and David Solway
David Solway
David Solway is a Canadian poet, educational theorist, travel writer and literary critic of Jewish descent.He is a member of the Jubilate Circle and formerly a teacher of English Literature at John Abbott College...
were among those who gave eulogies.
A street in Montreal has been named Irving Layton Avenue. Irving Layton Avenue is located behind St. Richards Church and close to the corner of Guelph Rd. and Parkhaven Ave.
An online scholarly journal, "The Bull Calf" (founded by Kait Pinder and J. A. Weingarten), is named in honour of Layton's famous poem of the same name.
He is considered Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
's literary mentor. Leonard Cohen once said of Layton, "I taught him how to dress, he taught me how to live forever."
Poetry
- Here and Now. Montreal: First Statement Press, 19451945 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes, based on George Crabbe's The Borough...
. - Now Is The Place: Stories and Poems. Montreal: First Statement Press, 19481948 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Sometime this year, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase Beat Generation to describe his friends and as a general term describing the underground, anti-conformist youth gathering in New York at that...
. - The Black Huntsmen: Poems. Montreal: 19511951 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Poet Cid Corman began Origin magazine in response to the failure of a magazine that Robert Creeley had planned. The magazine typically featured one writer per issue and ran, with breaks, until the...
. - With Louis DudekLouis DudekLouis Dudek, OC was a Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism. He was the author of over two dozen books...
and Raymond SousterRaymond SousterRaymond Holmes Souster, OC is a Canadian poet whose writing career spans almost 70 years. He has published more than 50 volumes of his own verse, and edited or co-edited a dozen volumes of others' poetry...
. Cerberus. Toronto: Contact Press, 19521952 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* November — The Group British poetry movement of the 1950s and 1960s began at Downing College, Cambridge University, Philip Hobsbaum along with two friends — Tony Davis and Neil Morris...
. - Love the Conqueror Worm. Toronto: Contact Press, 19531953 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* George Plimpton, Peter Matthiessen and Harold L...
. - In the Midst of My Fever. Palma de Mallorca, Spain: Divers Press, 19541954 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Robert Creeley founds and edits the Black Mountain Review...
. - The Long Pea-Shooter. Montreal: Laocoon Press, 19541954 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Robert Creeley founds and edits the Black Mountain Review...
. - The Blue Propeller. Toronto: Contact Press, 19551955 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Group, a British poetry movement, starts meeting in London with gatherings taking place once a week, on Friday evenings, at first at Hobsbaum's flat and later at the house of Edward Lucie-Smith...
. - The Cold Green Element. Toronto: Contact Press, 19551955 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Group, a British poetry movement, starts meeting in London with gatherings taking place once a week, on Friday evenings, at first at Hobsbaum's flat and later at the house of Edward Lucie-Smith...
. - The Bull Calf and Other Poems. Toronto: Contact Press, 19561956 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 27—Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath meet in Cambridge...
. - The Improved Binoculars: Selected Poems. Introduction by William Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos WilliamsWilliam Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
. Highlands, NC: Jonathan Williams, 19561956 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 27—Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath meet in Cambridge...
. 2nd edition 1957. Toronto: Porcupine’s Quill, 1991. ISBN 0889841012 - Music on a Kazoo. Toronto: Contact Press, 19561956 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 27—Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath meet in Cambridge...
. - A Laughter in the Mind. Highlands, NC: Jonathan Williams, 19581958 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Brazilian manifesto for concrete poetry, which focuses on visual and other sensory qualities...
. 2nd edition Montreal: Editions d'Orphée, 1959. - A Red Carpet for the Sun. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19591959 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* In the United States, "Those serious new Bohemians, the beatniks, occupied with reading their deliberately undisciplined, protesting verse in night clubs and hotel ballrooms, created more publicity...
. - The Swinging Flesh Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19611961 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20–Robert Frost recites his poem "The Gift Outright" at United States President John F...
. (poems and stories) - Balls for a One-Armed Juggler Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19631963 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 26 – Raghunath Vishnu Pandit, an Indian poet who wrote in both Konkani and Marathi languages, publishes five books of poems this day* The Belfast Group, a discussion group of poets in...
. - The Laughing Rooster. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19641964 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Among the many books of poetry published this year, Robert Lowell's For the Union Dead is greeted with particular acclaim...
. - Collected Poems. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19651965 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Meic Stephens founds Poetry Wales...
. - Periods of the Moon: Poems. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19671967 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Cecil Day-Lewis is selected as the new Poet Laureate of the UK....
. - The Shattered Plinths. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19681968 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Belfast Group, a grouping of poets in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which was started in 1963 in poetry, lapsed in 1966 when founder Philip Hobsbaum left for Glasgow, is reconstituted this year by...
. - Selected Poems. Wynne Francis ed. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19691969 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* FIELD magazine founded at Oberlin College...
. London: Charisma, 1977. - The Whole Bloody Bird: Obs, Aphs & Pomes. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19691969 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* FIELD magazine founded at Oberlin College...
. - Poems to Color — 19701970 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* May – "La nuit de la poésie", a poetry reading in Montreal bringing together poets from French Canada to recite before an audience of more than 2,000 in the Théâtre du Gesu, lasting until 7...
- The Collected Poems of Irving Layton. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19711971 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* This Magazine founded by Robert Grenier and Barrett Watten...
. - Nailpolish. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19711971 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* This Magazine founded by Robert Grenier and Barrett Watten...
. - Lovers and Lesser Men. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19731973 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Canadian poet and author, Michael Ondaatje adapts his 1970 book of poetry, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, into a play which this year is first produced in Stratford, Ontario; it will appear in...
. - The Pole-Vaulter. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19741974 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman....
. - Seventy-five Greek Poems, 1951-1974. Athens: Hermias Publications, 19741974 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is founded by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman....
. - The Darkening Fire: Selected Poems, 1945-1968. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19751975 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* With the 1974, fall of the dictatorship in Greece, poets, authors and intellectuals who had fled after the coup of 1967 returned, and this year many began publishing in that country.* Brick Books, a...
. - The Unwavering Eye: Selected Poems, 1969-1975. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19751975 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* With the 1974, fall of the dictatorship in Greece, poets, authors and intellectuals who had fled after the coup of 1967 returned, and this year many began publishing in that country.* Brick Books, a...
. - The Uncollected Poems of Irving Layton: 1936-59. Ed. W. David John. Ottawa, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 19761976 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Two poems written in 1965 by Mao Zedong just before the Cultural Revolution, including "Two Birds: A Dialogue", are published on January 1-Works published in English:Listed by nation where the work...
. - For my Brother Jesus. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19761976 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Two poems written in 1965 by Mao Zedong just before the Cultural Revolution, including "Two Birds: A Dialogue", are published on January 1-Works published in English:Listed by nation where the work...
. - The Poems of Irving Layton. Eli MandelEli MandelEli Mandel was a Canadian poet, editor of many Canadian anthologies, and literary academic.-Biography:...
ed. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19771977 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January – James Dickey, composed a poem he read at new United States President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala although not at the inauguration itself.* British publication Gay News successfully...
. Also published, with an introduction by Hugh KennerHugh KennerWilliam Hugh Kenner , was a Canadian literary scholar, critic and professor.Kenner was born in Peterborough, Ontario on January 7, 1923; his father taught classics...
, as The Selected Poems of Irving Layton. New York: New Directions, 1977. ISBN 0811206424 - Rhine Boat Trip — 1977
- The Covenant. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19771977 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January – James Dickey, composed a poem he read at new United States President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala although not at the inauguration itself.* British publication Gay News successfully...
. - The Tightrope Dancer. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19781978 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine, edited by Bruce Andrews and Charles Bernstein, first published...
. - The Love Poems of Irving Layton. Toronto: Canadian Fine Editions, 19781978 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine, edited by Bruce Andrews and Charles Bernstein, first published...
. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980. - Droppings from Heaven. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19791979 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Kenyon Review is restarted by Kenyon College 10 years after the original publication was closed....
. - The Tamed Puma. Toronto: Virgo Press, 19791979 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Kenyon Review is restarted by Kenyon College 10 years after the original publication was closed....
. - There Were No Signs. Toronto: Madison Gallery, 19791979 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Kenyon Review is restarted by Kenyon College 10 years after the original publication was closed....
. - For My Neighbours in Hell. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 19801980 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Mark Jarman and Robert McDowell started the small magazine The Reaper to promote narrative and formal poetry....
. ISBN 088962111X - Europe And Other Bad News. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19811981 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Jane Greer launched Plains Poetry Journal, an advance guard of the New Formalism movement....
. - A Wild Peculiar Joy: Selected Poems, 1945-82 Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19821982 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Final edition of This Magazine published....
. 2nd edition 1989. "There Were No Signs" from A Wild Peculiar Joy, online at CBC Words at Large - Shadows on the Ground: A Portfolio — 1982
- The Gucci Bag. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 19831983 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Frogmore Press founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone...
. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1983. Flatiron Book Distributors, 1995. ISBN 0889622450. - The Love Poems of Irving Layton: With Reverence & Delight. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 19841984 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*December 19 - Philip Larkin turns down the British Poet Laureateship, and Ted Hughes becomes Poet Laureate....
. Toronto: Mosaic Press; 2002. ISBN 0889622469 - A Spider Danced a Cosy Jig. Toronto: Stoddart, 19841984 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*December 19 - Philip Larkin turns down the British Poet Laureateship, and Ted Hughes becomes Poet Laureate....
. - Dance With Desire: Love Poems. Toronto:McClelland & Stewart, 19861986 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* New American Writing, an annual literary magazine concentrating on poetry, is founded in Chicago, Illinois....
. Dance With Desire: Selected Love Poems. Toronto: Porcupine’s Quill, 1992. ISBN 0889841357 - Fortunate Exile. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 19871987 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....
. ISBN 0771049471. - Final Reckoning: Poems, 1982-1986. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 19871987 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....
. - Fornalutx: Selected Poems, 1928-1990. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 19921992 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:The Forward Book of Poetry, an annual anthology of best British poems, is published for the first time by the Forward Poetry Trust. By 2003, the publication was selling 5,000 to 7,000 copies a year...
. ISBN 0773509631
Letters
- An Unlikely Affair: The Irving Layton - Dorothy Rath Correspondence. Toronto: Mosaic Press, 1990. ISBN 0889621012.
- Wild Gooseberries: The Selected Letters of Irving Layton — Toronto: Macmillan, 1989. ISBN 978-0771594243
- Irving Layton and Robert Creeley: The Complete Correspondence, 1953-1978. Toronto: McGill-Queens University Press, 1990. ISBN 0773506578.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy University of Toronto.
Discography
- Six Montreal Poets. New York: Folkways Records, 1957. Includes A.J.M. Smith, Leonard CohenLeonard CohenLeonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Irving Layton, F.R. Scott, Louis Dudek, and A.M. Klein. (cassett, 60 mins). - Irving Layton at Le Hibou. c.1962. (L.p.)
- Poems of Irving Layton. Jewish Public Library, c.1965. (cassette)
- Irving Layton. Sir George Williams University, 1967. (cassette)
- Irving Layton Reads His Poetry. Jewish Public Library, c.1967. (cassette)
- An Evening with Irving Layton. University of Guelph, 1969. (cassette)
- Irving Layton. High Barnet, c. 1972. (cassette)
- Layton. Caedmon, c.1973. (LP)
- A Red Carpet for the Sun. Trent University, 1975. (cassette)
- An Evening with Irving Layton. Jewish Public Library, 1976. (cassette)
- My Brother Jesus. Saidye Bronfman Center, 1976. (cassette)
- An Evening with Irving Layton. Jewish Public Library, 1981. (cassette)
- Irving Layton. TV Ontario, 1984. 14 mins. (video cassette)
- A Poetry Reading by Irving Layton. League of Canadian Poets, 1982. (cassette)
- A Wild Peculiar Joy: Selected Poems 1945-82. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1990. (cassette) ISBN 0771049501 "There Were No Signs" from A Wild Peculiar Joy, online at CBC Words at Large
- Celebration: Famous Canadian Poets CD Canadian Poetry AssociationCanadian Poetry AssociationThe Canadian Poetry Association began as a grass-roots organization dedicated to promoting the reading, writing, publishing and preservation of poetry in Canada through the individual efforts of members; promoting communication among poets, publishers and the general public; encouraging leadership...
— 2001 ISBN 1-55253-029-9 (with Earle BirneyEarle BirneyEarle Alfred Birney, OC, FRSC was a distinguished Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honor, for his poetry.-Life:...
) (CD#1)
Except where noted, discographical information courtesy University of Toronto.
External links
- IrvingLayton.com - Official Website.
- Order of Canada Citation
- Canadian Poetry Online: Irving Layton - Biography
- Irving Layton's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- "The Inexpressible Lousiness of Growing Old"
- "The Globe and Mail: Today's Poet / Irving Layton"
- "University of Saskatchewan's Irving Layton Collection"