Jean Blewett
| Jean Blewett | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jean Blewett c. 1896 | |
| Born |
Janet McKishnie 4 November 1862 Scotia, Kent County, Ontario |
| Died |
19 August 1934 (aged 71) Chatham, Ontario |
| Pen name | Katherine Kent |
| Occupation | Newspaper editor |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Ethnicity | Scottish |
| Spouse | Bassett Blewett |
Jean McKishnie Blewett (4 November 1862 – 19 August 1934) was a Canadian journalist, author and poet.[1][2]
Blewett was born Janet McKinshie in Scotia, Kent County, Ontario in 1862 to Scottish immigrants[3] (some sources say 1872).[4] She attended St. Thomas Collegiate and in 1879 married Bassett Blewett and published her first novel, Out of the Depths.[1] In 1896, she won a $600 prize from the Chicago Times-Herald for her poem "Spring".[4][5]
Blewett was a regular contributor to The Globe, a Toronto newspaper and in 1898 became editor of its Homemakers Department.[1] In 1919, assisted by the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire, she published a booklet titled Heart Stories to benefit war charities.[1] During this time she regularly lectured on topics such as temperance and suffragism.[2] She used the pseudonym Katherine Kent for some of her writing.[5]
In 1925 Blewett was compelled by ill-health to retire her editorship.[1] For two years she lived with a daughter in Lethbridge, Alberta, before returning to Toronto in 1927.[1] She died in 1934 in Chatham, Ontario.[1]
After her death, fellow female journalist Bride Broder wrote in tribute:
There is a simplicity about Mrs. Blewett's prose and verse that has made a wide appeal, and her gay-hearted attitude to life, the humorous twists she gave to little things, made her very welcome as a speaker at women's gatherings. In all her writings she touched on the things that appeal to women everywhere and, in doing so, won the admiration of men readers also.[3]
Her brother, Archibald McKishnie, was also a noted writer.[4]
Selected works
- Out of the depths (novel).[2][4] 1879 or 1890,[6]
- Heart Songs. Toronto: G.N. Morang. 1889. p. 269. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- The cornflower, and other poems. Toronto: W. Briggs. 1906. p. 265. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- Blewett, Jean (1918). Garvin, John William, ed. Canadian poems of the great war. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. pp. 24–26. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- Heart Stories. Toronto: Warwick Bros. & Rutter. 1919. p. 40. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- Poems. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. c. 1922. p. 272. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Campbell, Sandra; McMullen, Lorraine (1991). New Women: Short Stories by Canadian Women, 1900-1920. University of Ottawa Press. pp. 139–140. ISBN 9780776603230. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- 1 2 3 Gerson, Carole (2002). "Blewett, Jean McKishnie". In New, W. H. Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press. p. 128. ISBN 9780802007612. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- 1 2 "Writer Honors Jean Blewett". Calgary Daily Herald. Canadian Press. 19 August 1934. p. 14. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 Garvin, John William (1916). Canadian Poets and Poetry. McClelland, Goodchild & Stewart. pp. 190–196. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- 1 2 "Jean Blewett, authoress, dies". The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan). 20 August 1934. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- ↑ Sources differ on the publication date for this novel.
External links
- Works by Jean Blewett at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Jean Blewett at Internet Archive
- Works by Jean Blewett at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Blewett, Jean (McKishnie) National Historic Person, Parks Canada