Leo Kennedy
Encyclopedia
John Leo Kennedy was a Canadian
poet and critic, who in the 1920s and 1930s was a member of the Montreal Group
of modernist poets
. The Canadian Encyclopedia
says of him that "Kennedy helped change the direction of Canadian poetry
in the 1920s."
, and his mother, Lillian Bullen – to Canada in 1912. Leo Kennedy quit school at 14, after having to repeat Grade 6; "he took to the sea and held a variety of jobs." In the mid-1920s Kennedy was writing an advice column for the Montreal Star
under the name "Helen Laurence."
In the early 1920s he was writing an advice column
for the Montreal Star
. At the same time, "he was admitted to the Montreal
campus of Laval (now the Université de Montréal
), where he studied English for two years."
and others in the McGill Group" or Montreal Group. Becoming a "friend of A.J.M. Smith
, F.R. Scott
, A.M. Klein
, and Leon Edel, he contributed to the McGill Literary Supplement and then to its replacements, the McGill Fortnightly Review, and Canadian Mercury."
After the Fortnightly ceased in 1927, Kennedy and Scott founded the Canadian Mercury in 1928, which put out seven issues through 1929: "though short-lived, the magazine published important work by the editors (including Kennedy's manifesto 'The Future of Canadian Literature') as well as by Smith and A.M. Klein."
he regularly contributed poems, short stories, and essays to the Canadian Forum
and Saturday Night
." By that time he was a family man, with a wife, Miriam, and a son, Stephen.
In 1931 Kennedy became friends with novelist and poet Raymond Knister
when the latter moved to Montreal. Kennedy and Knister began planning an anthology, similar to Knister's Canadian Short Stories (1928), of Canadian modernist poetry
. Knister died the next year, but Scott and Smith got involved in the project. In 1933, at the urging of poet E.J. Pratt
, Macmillan
published The Shrouding," Kennedy's one poetry book. It was dedicated to Knister.In 1936 the anthology of modernist poetry was published as New Provinces: Poems by several authors
. Kennedy, represented with ten poems, was one of six authors.
By the time he appeared with Smith, Scott, Klein, Pratt, and Robert Finch
in New Provinces in 1936, Kennedy had repudiated his early work and was seeking a poetry that could contribute to social and political reform." He had become "part of a politically active circle of intellectuals in Montreal and Toronto in the 1930s" and a frequent contributor to leftist magazines. He joined the editorial committee of New Frontier (1936-38), a journal of left-wing opinion and culture, and contributed essays and verse.
At the same time, some "of his socialist writings were published pseudonymously, for he was working throughout the 1930s for advertising agencies in Montreal, Toronto
, and Detroit." Pseudonyms he was known to use include Arthur Beaton, Leonard Bullen, William Crowl, Edgar Main, and Peter Quinn)"
to pursue an advertising career," while "continuing to publish reviews and witty verse pseudonymously" "In 1942 he moved to a Chicago
agency and [also] freelanced as a book reviewer for the Chicago Sun."
Kennedy spent the rest of his working life as a copywriter in the United States. "He eventually settled in Norwalk, Connecticut
, as a staff writer for Reader's Digest
."
The Shrouding "was reprinted in 1975 with an introduction by Leon Edel, who described Kennedy as the sprightly leader of Canada's ‘graveyard school’ of metaphysical poetry." Kennedy's "short story ‘A priest in the family’, first published in The Canadian Forum (April 1933), was reprinted in Great stories of the world (1972)."
In 1976 Kennedy "returned to his literary friends in Montreal, living for ten years with his daughter-in-law." There "he worked on literary memoirs he was not to finish," spending his time writing "poems for children, satiric verse, and broadsides."
Kennedy eventually retired "to a hotel in Pasadena
, California
." He reportedly died in 2000.
and A.J.M. Smith; traditional in form, metaphysical
in technique and motif
." The poetry is "marked by a fascination with death and symbolic resurrection
." "Under the influence of the metaphysical
and mythic sensibilities of T.S. Eliot and Sir James Frazer
, [Kennedy] wrote poems that sought salvation from the winter wasteland of death and oblivion by fusing Christian faith in the resurrection with the myth of renewal found in the order of nature: buried bones are like crocus bulbs awaiting the spring to sprout heavenward."
Kennedy later repudiated the poems of his first book, as "too unengaged with social issues." "By 1936, when his poems were included in the modernist anthology New Provinces
, he was already turning his back on much of what he began, writing committed criticism of social realities for radical periodicals"
In a New Frontier article called "Direction for Canadian Poets," Leo "Kennedy pointed to the impotence of members of the McGill group because they were still preoccupied with the concerns of the twenties. Kennedy's article ends by describing a type of poetry that only came to prominence a decade later:"
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 and critic, who in the 1920s and 1930s was a member of the Montreal Group
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...
of modernist poets
Modernist poetry
Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature in the English language, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases of the critic setting the...
. The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
says of him that "Kennedy helped change the direction of Canadian poetry
Canadian poetry
- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
in the 1920s."
Life
Born in Liverpool, England, Kennedy emigrated with his family – his father, John Kennedy, a ship chandlerShip chandler
A ship chandler is a retail dealer in special supplies or equipment for ships.For traditional sailing ships items that could be found in a chandler might include: rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch , linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, rope and cordage, hemp, oakum, tools A ship...
, and his mother, Lillian Bullen – to Canada in 1912. Leo Kennedy quit school at 14, after having to repeat Grade 6; "he took to the sea and held a variety of jobs." In the mid-1920s Kennedy was writing an advice column for the Montreal Star
Montreal Star
The Montreal Star was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It folded in 1979 following an eight-month pressmen's strike....
under the name "Helen Laurence."
In the early 1920s he was writing an advice column
Advice column
An advice column is a column in a magazine or newspaper written by an advice columnist . The image presented was originally of an older woman providing comforting advice and maternal wisdom, hence the name "aunt"...
for the Montreal Star
Montreal Star
The Montreal Star was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It folded in 1979 following an eight-month pressmen's strike....
. At the same time, "he was admitted to the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
campus of Laval (now the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
), where he studied English for two years."
Montreal Group
"While working at various jobs, Kennedy became affiliated with Leon EdelLeon Edel
Joseph Leon Edel was a North American literary critic and biographer. He was the elder brother of North American philosopher Abraham Edel....
and others in the McGill Group" or Montreal Group. Becoming a "friend of A.J.M. Smith
A. J. M. Smith
Arthur James Marshall Smith 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. Klein, and F.R...
, F.R. Scott
F. R. Scott
Francis Reginald Scott, CC commonly known as Frank Scott or F.R. Scott, was a Canadian poet, intellectual and constitutional expert. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and its successor, the New Democratic Party...
, A.M. Klein
A. M. Klein
Abraham Moses Klein was a Canadian poet, journalist, novelist, short story writer, and lawyer. He has been called "One of Canada's greatest poets and a leading figure in Jewish-Canadian culture."...
, and Leon Edel, he contributed to the McGill Literary Supplement and then to its replacements, the McGill Fortnightly Review, and Canadian Mercury."
After the Fortnightly ceased in 1927, Kennedy and Scott founded the Canadian Mercury in 1928, which put out seven issues through 1929: "though short-lived, the magazine published important work by the editors (including Kennedy's manifesto 'The Future of Canadian Literature') as well as by Smith and A.M. Klein."
Publication and radicalization
The Crash of 1929 destroyed the Mercury, but Kennedy continued to write and publish. "During the DepressionGreat Depression in Canada
Canada was hit hard by the Great Depression. Between 1929 and 1939, the gross national product dropped 40% . Unemployment reached 27% at the depth of the Depression in 1933...
he regularly contributed poems, short stories, and essays to the Canadian Forum
Canadian Forum
The Canadian Forum was a left-wing literary, cultural and political publication and Canada's longest running continually published political magazine.It was founded in 1920 at the University of Toronto as a forum for political and cultural ideas...
and Saturday Night
Saturday Night (magazine)
Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...
." By that time he was a family man, with a wife, Miriam, and a son, Stephen.
In 1931 Kennedy became friends with novelist and poet Raymond Knister
Raymond Knister
John Raymond Knister was a Canadian poet, novelist, story writer, columnist, and reviewer, "known primarily for his realistic narratives set in rural Canada .....
when the latter moved to Montreal. Kennedy and Knister began planning an anthology, similar to Knister's Canadian Short Stories (1928), of Canadian modernist poetry
Modernist poetry in English
Modernist poetry in English is generally considered to have emerged in the early years of the 20th century with the appearance of the Imagists. In common with many other modernists, these poets wrote in reaction to the perceived excesses of Victorian poetry, with its emphasis on traditional...
. Knister died the next year, but Scott and Smith got involved in the project. In 1933, at the urging of poet E.J. Pratt
E. J. Pratt
Edwin John Dove Pratt, FRSC , who published as E. J. Pratt, was "the leading Canadian poet of his time." He was a Canadian poet originally from Newfoundland who lived most of his life in Toronto, Ontario...
, Macmillan
Macmillan of Canada
Macmillan of Canada was a Canadian publishing house.The company was founded in 1905 as the Canadian arm of the English publisher Macmillan. At that time it was known as the "Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd." In the course of its existence the name changed to "Macmillan of Canada" and "Macmillan...
published The Shrouding," Kennedy's one poetry book. It was dedicated to Knister.In 1936 the anthology of modernist poetry was published as New Provinces: Poems by several authors
New Provinces (poetry anthology)
New Provinces: Poems of Several Authors was an anthology of Canadian poetry published in the 1930s, anonymously edited by F.R. Scott assisted by Leo Kennedy and A.J.M. Smith. The first anthology of Canadian modernist poetry, it has been hailed as a "landmark anthology" and a "milestone selection...
. Kennedy, represented with ten poems, was one of six authors.
By the time he appeared with Smith, Scott, Klein, Pratt, and Robert Finch
Robert Finch (poet)
Robert Duer Claydon Finch was a Canadian poet and academic. He twice won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, for his poetry.-Life:...
in New Provinces in 1936, Kennedy had repudiated his early work and was seeking a poetry that could contribute to social and political reform." He had become "part of a politically active circle of intellectuals in Montreal and Toronto in the 1930s" and a frequent contributor to leftist magazines. He joined the editorial committee of New Frontier (1936-38), a journal of left-wing opinion and culture, and contributed essays and verse.
At the same time, some "of his socialist writings were published pseudonymously, for he was working throughout the 1930s for advertising agencies in Montreal, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, and Detroit." Pseudonyms he was known to use include Arthur Beaton, Leonard Bullen, William Crowl, Edgar Main, and Peter Quinn)"
Later life
After New Frontier closed down, Kennedy "left for the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to pursue an advertising career," while "continuing to publish reviews and witty verse pseudonymously" "In 1942 he moved to a Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
agency and [also] freelanced as a book reviewer for the Chicago Sun."
Kennedy spent the rest of his working life as a copywriter in the United States. "He eventually settled in Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of the city is 85,603, making Norwalk sixth in population in Connecticut, and third in Fairfield County...
, as a staff writer for Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...
."
The Shrouding "was reprinted in 1975 with an introduction by Leon Edel, who described Kennedy as the sprightly leader of Canada's ‘graveyard school’ of metaphysical poetry." Kennedy's "short story ‘A priest in the family’, first published in The Canadian Forum (April 1933), was reprinted in Great stories of the world (1972)."
In 1976 Kennedy "returned to his literary friends in Montreal, living for ten years with his daughter-in-law." There "he worked on literary memoirs he was not to finish," spending his time writing "poems for children, satiric verse, and broadsides."
Kennedy eventually retired "to a hotel in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
." He reportedly died in 2000.
Writing
Kennedy's "one volume, The Shrouding (1933, rpt. 1975), reveals the modernist influence of T.S. EliotT. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
and A.J.M. Smith; traditional in form, metaphysical
Metaphysical poets
The metaphysical poets is a term coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century, who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them, and whose work was characterized by inventiveness of metaphor...
in technique and motif
Motif
Motif may refer to the following:In creative work:* Motif , a perceivable or salient recurring fragment or succession of notes* Motif , any recurring element in a story that has symbolic significance...
." The poetry is "marked by a fascination with death and symbolic resurrection
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
." "Under the influence of the metaphysical
Metaphysical
Metaphysical may refer to:*Metaphysics, a branch of philosophy dealing with aspects of existence and the theory of knowledge*The supernatural...
and mythic sensibilities of T.S. Eliot and Sir James Frazer
James Frazer
Sir James George Frazer , was a Scottish social anthropologist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion...
, [Kennedy] wrote poems that sought salvation from the winter wasteland of death and oblivion by fusing Christian faith in the resurrection with the myth of renewal found in the order of nature: buried bones are like crocus bulbs awaiting the spring to sprout heavenward."
Kennedy later repudiated the poems of his first book, as "too unengaged with social issues." "By 1936, when his poems were included in the modernist anthology New Provinces
New Provinces (poetry anthology)
New Provinces: Poems of Several Authors was an anthology of Canadian poetry published in the 1930s, anonymously edited by F.R. Scott assisted by Leo Kennedy and A.J.M. Smith. The first anthology of Canadian modernist poetry, it has been hailed as a "landmark anthology" and a "milestone selection...
, he was already turning his back on much of what he began, writing committed criticism of social realities for radical periodicals"
In a New Frontier article called "Direction for Canadian Poets," Leo "Kennedy pointed to the impotence of members of the McGill group because they were still preoccupied with the concerns of the twenties. Kennedy's article ends by describing a type of poetry that only came to prominence a decade later:"
- we need poetry that reflects the lives of our people, working, loving, fighting, groping for clarity. We need satire - fierce, scorching, aimed at the abuses which are destroying our culture and which threatens life itself. Our poets have lacked direction for their talents and energies in the past — I suggest that today it lies right before them.
Books
- The Shrouding. Toronto: Macmillan, 1933. Ottawa: Golden Dog, 1975.
- Sunset in the States. Diane, 1972.
Further reading
- Kennedy, Leo; "The Future of Canadian Literature," Canadian Mercury, Dec. 1928.
- Kennedy, Leo; "Direction for Canadian Poets," New Frontier I, June, 1936.
- Patricia A. Morley, As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy's Story (McGill-Queen's Press, 1994). ISBN 9780773511477
- Stevens, Peter ed. The McGill Movement: A.J.M. Smith, F.R. Scott and Leo Kennedy. (Toronto, Ryerson Press, 1969). ISBN 9780770002947