Rosemary Sullivan
| Rosemary Sullivan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1947 Valois, Quebec, Canada |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Genre | biography, poetry |
| Notable works | Shadow Maker, The Space a Name Makes, Stalin's Daughter |
| Website | |
| rosemarysullivan |
|
Rosemary Sullivan (born 1947) is a Canadian poet, biographer, and anthologist.[1]
Sullivan was born in the small town of Valois on Lac Saint-Louis, which is located just outside Montreal, Quebec. After graduating from St. Thomas high school, she attended McGill University on a scholarship, and earned her Bachelor's degree in 1968. After she was married in 1968, she then attended the University of Connecticut where she earned her M.A. in 1969. Finally Sullivan attended the University of Sussex earning her PHD for her thesis The Garden Master: The Poetry of Theodore Roethke in 1972.
After completing her post secondary education, Sullivan moved to France to teach at the university of Dijon, and later at the University of Bordeaux. Two years later she was hired at the University of Victoria, and then in 1977 at the University of Toronto, where she has taught ever since. In 1978 Sullivan decided to dedicate herself to her writing, while still teaching at the University of Toronto
Rosemary Sullivan is a celebrated critic, editor, poet, and biographer. She writes "wisely and sensibly and well."[2] Her first collection of poetry The Space a Name Makes, was awarded the Gerald Lampert Award for best first book of poetry published in Canada in 1968.[3] In 1987 Sullivan began writing a biography on Elizabeth Smart, titled By Heart, which was later published in 1991 by Penguin Books. Sullivan soon realized she had a passion for biographies, and in 1995 Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen was published. Shadow Maker won numerous awards, including the Governor Generals Award for Non-Fiction, the Canadian Authors’ Association Award for Non-fiction, the President’s medal for Biography, University of British Columbia, and the City of Toronto Book award.[4] Then in 1998, The Red Shoes: Margaret Atwood Starting Out was published.
Aside from her writing career, Sullivan has been working with Amnesty International since 1979, and in 1980 founded a congress to aid Amnesty International.[5] Sullivan has also traveled all over the world including Russia, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, Chile, and Nicaragua.[6]
Sullivan's first collection of poetry, The Space a Name Makes (1986), was awarded the Gerald Lampert Award. Her biography of Gwendolyn MacEwen, Shadow Maker (1995), won the Governor General's Award.
In 2015, she won the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction for Stalin's Daughter, her biography of Svetlana Alliluyeva.[7]
Sullivan teaches at the University of Toronto.
Works
Biography
- By Heart: Elizabeth Smart, a Life - 1991
- Shadow Maker: The Life of Gwendolyn MacEwen - 1995
- The Red Shoes": Margaret Atwood Starting Out - 1998
- Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva - 2015
Poetry
- The Space a Name Makes - 1986
- Blue Panic - 1991
Criticism
- 'The Garden Master: The Poetry of Theodore Roethke - 1975
Non-fiction
- Labyrinth of Desire: Women, Passion, and Romantic Obsession - 2001
- Cuba: Grace Under Pressure - 2003
- Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape, and a House in Marseille - 2006
Anthologies
- Elements of Fiction - 1982 (co-editor)
- Stories by Canadian Women - 1984
- Poetry in English: An Anthology - 1987
- Poetry by Canadian Women - 1989
- Oxford Book of Stories by Canadian Women in English - 2000
Notes
- ↑ Ryan, Leila. “Sullivan, Rosemary.” The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press. 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Web. 25 October 2010.
- ↑ Sullivan, Rosemary, and Jackson, Lorna (REVIEWER). "[The red shoes: Margaret Atwood starting out]. " Rev. of: Quill & Quire 1 September 1998: CBCA Complete, ProQuest. Web. 26 October 2010.
- ↑ "Rosemary Sullivan: author and professor of English literature." Contemporary Canadian Biographies. Thomson Gale, 1998. 1-5. CPI.Q (Canadian Periodicals). Web. 26 October 2010.
- ↑ "Rosemary Sullivan: author and professor of English literature." Contemporary Canadian Biographies. Thomson Gale, 1998. 1-5. CPI.Q (Canadian Periodicals). Web. 26 October 2010.
- ↑ Rosemary Sullivan Online. n.d. Web. 25 October 2010.
- ↑ Rosemary Sullivan Online. n.d. Web. 25 October 2010.
- ↑ "Biography of Stalin’s daughter wins Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize". The Globe and Mail, October 6, 2015.
