John Metcalf (writer)
Encyclopedia
John Metcalf, CM
(born 12 November 1938) is a Canadian
writer
, editor
and critic.
, England on November 12, 1938. His father, Thomas Metcalf, was a clergyman and his mother, Gladys Moore Metcalf, was a teacher. Metcalf immigrated to Canada
in 1962 at the age of 24. It was in Canada that he began to write. In 1975 he married Myrna Teitlebaum and now lives with her in Ottawa
.
He has made extensive contributions to Canadian literature
through editing, teaching various educational levels across Canada, critiquing other writers, compiling anthologies and publishing and promoting Canadian writers. He is a ``storyteller, editor, novelist, essayist, critic``, and is known for his satires of Canadian life and academia. His writing is rich in intense emotion invoking imagery, which he draws from his experiences as an educator in Canada. John Metcalf is seen as an authority
in his field by many.
from the University of Bristol
, prior to his immigration
to Canada.
came when he entered the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
's Short Story Essay Contest which was followed by eight of his short stories
being accepted by the Vancouver-based magazine Prism International. While writing he took side jobs in teaching to keep himself afloat.
New Canadian Writing, 1969 included Metcalf's first published stories. These stories all followed a common theme of youth
and their coming of age. Metcalf used this theme of youth and coming of age and the events that shape it, extensively throughout his works. His first novella
was published in 1970, shortly after New Canadian Writing,1969, and was titled The Lady Who Stole Furniture. It follows the narrator
as he deals with the morality
and integrity
of his intimate relationship
with an older woman, and thus followed this theme of coming of age. It was this novella
that first showcased Metcalf's “skill with dialogue, the idiom and rhythms of speech", which is seen in most of his work.
Many of his works follow characters
modeled after himself, many are young English teachers who have immigrated to Canada and are displeased with the state of the educational system. His first novel Going Down Slow follows a young teacher
as described above as he deals with morality
in the workplace, and his second novel General Ludd follows the same type of character as he fights the implementation of communications technology in his workplace.
The Teeth of My Father are a collection of short stories with the common theme
of artists’ relationships with society and their artwork and personal life. This theme
was followed by, and extended in Metcalf's Adult Entertainment.
Girl in Gingham is a collection of two novellas. The first called Private Parts, chronicles one narrators “sexual and spiritual childhood and adolescence”. The second called Girl in Gingham follows another narrators search for the perfect mate through the use of an online dating service
, with the undertone being his realization of people trying to invent themselves to fit what others want, or the ideals of their culture. Short story and Novella forms are Metcalf’s preferred form of writing. Metcalf describes that when writing these forms “you got to get it dead right. A beat or two off and its ruined.”
Metcalf is a long-time critic
of Canadian ``cultural and educational inadequacies`` and published Kicking Against the Pricks in 1982 to showcase this frustration. It was a collection of 8 essays and included an interview
with himself. To further increase debate
within the literary community
he published The Bumper Book in 1986 and followed it with Carry on Bumping in 1988. Both collections consisted of contentious essays Metcalf hoped would showcase what he saw as problems with Canadian literature.
In an interview with Geoff Hancock, John Metcalf blatantly states that “the quality of the education has declined everywhere over the last 50 years as the number to be educated has risen”. He goes on to say that he is in “conflict with the dominant nature of North American
society” and the influence it has on education
.
The Estuary won University of Western Ontario
’s President’s Medal of for the Best Story of 1969.
newspaper, reviewed Metcalf’s Shut Up He Explained A Literary Memoir Vol 2, which briefly explained what Metcalf had been doing in the past couple years, but actually focus more on Metcalf’s opinions of Canadian literature. It covers his hatred of “bad writing, thematic and political criticism” and the incompetence off the educational system and the “malignantly stupid pride” of Canadian culture. Good believes that much of the book could have been edited out without changing the intended tone.
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...
(born 12 November 1938) is a 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...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
and critic.
Biographical
Metcalf was born in CarlisleCity of Carlisle
The City of Carlisle is a local government district of Cumbria, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Carlisle, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Brampton and Longtown, as well as outlying villages...
, England on November 12, 1938. His father, Thomas Metcalf, was a clergyman and his mother, Gladys Moore Metcalf, was a teacher. Metcalf immigrated to Canada
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...
in 1962 at the age of 24. It was in Canada that he began to write. In 1975 he married Myrna Teitlebaum and now lives with her in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
.
He has made extensive contributions to Canadian literature
Canadian literature
Canadian literature is literature originating from Canada. Collectively it is often called CanLit. Some criticism of Canadian literature has focused on nationalistic and regional themes, although this is only a small portion of Canadian Literary criticism...
through editing, teaching various educational levels across Canada, critiquing other writers, compiling anthologies and publishing and promoting Canadian writers. He is a ``storyteller, editor, novelist, essayist, critic``, and is known for his satires of Canadian life and academia. His writing is rich in intense emotion invoking imagery, which he draws from his experiences as an educator in Canada. John Metcalf is seen as an authority
Authority
The word Authority is derived mainly from the Latin word auctoritas, meaning invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. In English, the word 'authority' can be used to mean power given by the state or by academic knowledge of an area .-Authority in Philosophy:In...
in his field by many.
Education
Metcalf gained an Honours Bachelor of Arts and a Certificate in EducationCertificate in Education
The Certificate in Education is a professional qualification for teachers in the United Kingdom. There have been two incarnations of the Cert Ed over the years.-New Cert Ed:...
from the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
, prior to his immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
to Canada.
Writing career
His first attempt at writing fictionFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
came when he entered the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
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...
's Short Story Essay Contest which was followed by eight of his short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
being accepted by the Vancouver-based magazine Prism International. While writing he took side jobs in teaching to keep himself afloat.
New Canadian Writing, 1969 included Metcalf's first published stories. These stories all followed a common theme of youth
Youth
Youth is the time of life between childhood and adulthood . Definitions of the specific age range that constitutes youth vary. An individual's actual maturity may not correspond to their chronological age, as immature individuals could exist at all ages.-Usage:Around the world, the terms "youth",...
and their coming of age. Metcalf used this theme of youth and coming of age and the events that shape it, extensively throughout his works. His first novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
was published in 1970, shortly after New Canadian Writing,1969, and was titled The Lady Who Stole Furniture. It follows the narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
as he deals with the morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
and integrity
Integrity
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
of his intimate relationship
Intimate relationship
An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
with an older woman, and thus followed this theme of coming of age. It was this novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
that first showcased Metcalf's “skill with dialogue, the idiom and rhythms of speech", which is seen in most of his work.
Many of his works follow characters
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
modeled after himself, many are young English teachers who have immigrated to Canada and are displeased with the state of the educational system. His first novel Going Down Slow follows a young teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
as described above as he deals with morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
in the workplace, and his second novel General Ludd follows the same type of character as he fights the implementation of communications technology in his workplace.
The Teeth of My Father are a collection of short stories with the common theme
Theme (literature)
A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
of artists’ relationships with society and their artwork and personal life. This theme
Theme (literature)
A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
was followed by, and extended in Metcalf's Adult Entertainment.
Girl in Gingham is a collection of two novellas. The first called Private Parts, chronicles one narrators “sexual and spiritual childhood and adolescence”. The second called Girl in Gingham follows another narrators search for the perfect mate through the use of an online dating service
Online dating service
Online dating or Internet dating is a dating system which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship...
, with the undertone being his realization of people trying to invent themselves to fit what others want, or the ideals of their culture. Short story and Novella forms are Metcalf’s preferred form of writing. Metcalf describes that when writing these forms “you got to get it dead right. A beat or two off and its ruined.”
Metcalf is a long-time critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
of Canadian ``cultural and educational inadequacies`` and published Kicking Against the Pricks in 1982 to showcase this frustration. It was a collection of 8 essays and included an interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
with himself. To further increase debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
within the literary community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
he published The Bumper Book in 1986 and followed it with Carry on Bumping in 1988. Both collections consisted of contentious essays Metcalf hoped would showcase what he saw as problems with Canadian literature.
In an interview with Geoff Hancock, John Metcalf blatantly states that “the quality of the education has declined everywhere over the last 50 years as the number to be educated has risen”. He goes on to say that he is in “conflict with the dominant nature of North American
North American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
society” and the influence it has on education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
.
Awards
Forde Abroad won the 1996 Gold Medal for Fiction at the National Magazine Awards.The Estuary won University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
’s President’s Medal of for the Best Story of 1969.
Book Review
Alex Good of the Toronto StarToronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
newspaper, reviewed Metcalf’s Shut Up He Explained A Literary Memoir Vol 2, which briefly explained what Metcalf had been doing in the past couple years, but actually focus more on Metcalf’s opinions of Canadian literature. It covers his hatred of “bad writing, thematic and political criticism” and the incompetence off the educational system and the “malignantly stupid pride” of Canadian culture. Good believes that much of the book could have been edited out without changing the intended tone.
Selected works
- The Lady Who Sold Furniture, 1970
- Going Down Slow, 1972
- The Teeth of My Father, 1975
- Girl in Gingham, 1978
- General Ludd, 1981
- Kicking Against the Pricks, 1982
- Selected Stories, 1982
- Adult Entertainment, 1986
- What is a Canadian Literature?, 1988
- Shooting the Stars, 1992
- Freedom from Culture, 1993
- An Aesthetic Underground: A Literary Memoir, 2003
- Forde Abroad, 2003
- Standing Stones, 2004
- Shut Up He Explained: A Literary Memoir Volume II, 2007
External links
- John Metcalf's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia