Miriam Mandel
| Miriam Mandel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Miriam Minovitch June 24, 1930 Rockglen, Saskatchewan |
| Died |
February 13, 1982 (aged 51) Edmonton, Alberta |
| Language | English |
| Citizenship |
 Canadian |
| Education | B.A. |
| Alma mater | University of Saskatchewan |
| Notable awards | Governor General's Award |
| Spouse | Eli Mandel |
| Children | Evie, Charles |
Miriam Mandel (June 24, 1930 – February 13, 1982) was a Canadian poet who won Canada's Governor General's Award.
Life
Miriam Mandel was born in Rockglen, Saskatchewan.[1] She gained her B.A. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1950.[1] In 1949 she married Eli Mandel, and after her graduation the couple moved to Toronto where he worked on a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. After he received his doctorate in 1957, they moved to Edmonton, where he taught at the University of Alberta until 1967.[2]
Miriam and Eli Mandel had two children, Evie and Charles.[3] In 1967 the couple divorced and Eli Mandel remarried.[2]
Shortly after their marriage broke up, Miriam Mandel began writing poetry.[4] She won the Governor General's Award in 1973 for her first collection, Lions At Her Face.[1]
Miriam Mandel was a long-time sufferer from depression.[4] Patrick Lane, who was inspired by her to write his 1983 poem "And of the Measure of Winter We Are Sure", later said: "I remembered her from a few years before, a dark, winter night, three in the morning, the two of us out night-walking, separate in our fidelities, through the snow in Edmonton, thirty below, a wind, no one else outside, and passing her, our eyes meeting briefly, a nod, and then passing on, the look on her face not one of despair, but of such a loneliness ... that's why I wrote the poem, remembering Miriam, remembering the hell of an Edmonton winter."[5]
Miriam Mandel died in Edmonton by suicide.[4]
Novelist Sheila Watson edited Miriam Mandel's Collected Poems in 1984.[4] The Miriam Mandel fonds is at the University of Calgary.[1]
Bibliography
Poetry
- Lions at Her Face. Edmonton: White Pelican Publications, 1973.
- Station 14. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 1977. ISBN 0-920316-08-5 ISBN 978-0920316085
- Where Have You Been?. Edmonton: Longspoon Press, 1980. ISBN 0-919285-00-7 ISBN 9780919285002
- The Collected Poems of Miriam Mandel. Sheila Watson, ed. Edmonton: Longspoon Press, 1984.[6] ISBN 0-920316-50-6 ISBN 978-0920316504
Non-fiction
- Miriam Mandel et al. Herpes Handbook: A Guide For the Diagnosis and Management of Herpes Genitals. Toronto: R.E.A.C.H., 1981.
- The Miriam Mandel Papers. Sandra Mortensen, compiler; Apollonia Steele and Jean F. Tener, ed. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1990.[7] ISBN 0-919813-61-5 ISSN 0831-4497
Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy University of Saskatchewan.[8]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Mandel, Miriam, 1930-1982," Special Collections, University of Calgary Library, UCalgary.ca, Web, Apr, 24, 2011.
- 1 2 "Mandel, Eli," Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, URegina.ca, Web, Apr. 25, 2011.
- ↑ "Elias (Eli) Wolf Mandel Biography," Estevan, Saskatchewan, Gent-Family.com, Web, Apr. 25, 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 Marlene Alt, "Mandel, Miriam," Canadian Encyclopedia (Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988), 1290.
- ↑ Questions and Answers, "And of the Measure of Winter We Are Sure," CanLit Poets, Canadian Literature,
- ↑ "Bibliography of Works by Sheila Watson," English-Canadian Writers, AthabascaU.ca, Web, Apr. 22, 2011.
- ↑ "The Miriam Mandel Papers," University of Calgary Press," Web, Apr. 25, 2011.
- ↑ "Books by former English Department Students," USask.ca, Web, Apr. 25, 2011.