Phyllis Webb: Difference between revisions

Phyllis Webb

OC
Phyllis Webb; OC
Born	April 8, 1927; Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Died	November 11, 2021 (aged 94); Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Poet; radio broadcaster;
Notable works	Naked Poems (1965); Wilson's Bowl (1980)
Notable awards	Governor General's Award (1982)

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Phyllis Webb OC (April 8, 1927 – November 11, 2021) was a Canadian poet and broadcaster.

Webb's poetry had diverse influences, ranging from neo-Confucianism to the field theory of composition developed by the Black Mountain poets. Critics have described her collections Naked Poems (1965) and Wilson's Bowl (1980) as important works in contemporary Canadian literature.

As a broadcaster at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in the 1960s, Webb created programs including Ideas and Extension, a television program about Canadian poetry. She left the CBC in 1967 to return to British Columbia, where she remained for much of her life.

Early life and education[edit]

Phyllis Webb was born on April 8, 1927, in Victoria, British Columbia.^[1] She attended the University of British Columbia, where she received a BA in English and philosophy in 1949, and McGill University.^[2] In 1949, aged 22, she ran as a candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the 1949 British Columbia general election.^[3] In 1957 Webb won a grant that allowed her to study theatre in France.^[1]

Poetry[edit]

Webb's first poems were published in Contemporary Verse, a magazine run by Alan Crawley.^[2] Her first book publication was in Trio, a collection of poems by Eli Mandel, Gael Turnbull, and Webb published by Raymond Souster's Contact Press.^[4]^[5] In the 1950s, Webb became interested in Eastern philosophy; critic Pauline Butling suggests that Webb's early work shows the influence of neo-Confucianism's metaphysics of time.^[6]

Webb's approach shifted in the 1960s toward a model of poetry influenced by the field theory of composition developed by Charles Olson and the Black Mountain poets.^[7] The field theory was a jumping-off point for Naked Poems, which she started in 1963 and published in 1965.^[8]^[9] George Bowering describes Naked Poems as a "key text in contemporary Canadian literature".^[9] Wilson's Bowl (1980) adopts a new poetics centred on a critique of political and interpersonal power, drawing from Haida stories "to undermine the binary structures of Western thought".^[10] Critic Northrop Frye called it a "landmark".^[2] Webb composed the poems in Hanging Fire (1990) by waiting for words to arrive in her mind. She said in an interview that adopting this passive stance allowed her to focus more on the external world.^[11]

Webb taught creative writing at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and the Banff Centre, and was writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta from 1980 to 1981.^[2]

Webb's poems often concern death, particularly suicide.^[9]

Broadcasting[edit]

Beginning in 1964, Webb worked as a writer and broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).^[12] In 1965 she created, with William A. Young, the radio program Ideas.^[13] From 1967 to 1969, Webb was its executive producer.^[13] In 1967, she travelled to the Soviet Union, carrying out research on the anarchist Peter Kropotkin;^[14] she later proposed, but did not complete, a cycle of poems called "The Kropotkin Poems".^[15]^[16] Also in 1967, Webb created the CBC television program Extension, a series about Canadian poetry.^[17]

Honours[edit]

In 1980 Webb was awarded a prize of CA$2,300 by fellow Canadian poets in recognition of her book Wilson's Bowl, which was overlooked for a Governor General's Award nomination that year. The award citation stated, in part, "this gesture is a response to your whole body of work as well as to your presence as a touchstone of true good writing in Canada, which we all know is beyond awards and prizes".^[18]

Webb won the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry, 1982, for The Vision Tree.^[18]

She won Canada Council awards in 1981 and 1987.^[2]

She became an officer of the Order of Canada in 1992.^[19]

Personal life[edit]

Soon after Extension finished, Webb moved from Toronto to Salt Spring Island, British Columbia,^[17] where she lived for much of her life.^[20] Webb died at Lady Minto Hospital on Salt Spring Island on November 11, 2021.^[20]

Bibliography[edit]

Poetry[edit]

Trio: First Poems by Gael Turnbull, Phyllis Webb, and Eli Mandel. Toronto: Contact Press, 1954.^[4]^[5]
Even Your Right Eye. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1956.^[21]^[5]
In a Garden of the Pitti Palace; A Pang Cantata: 2 New Poems. Vancouver: Pica Press, 1961.^[22]
The Sea is Also a Garden: Poems. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1962.^[23]
Naked Poems. Vancouver: Periwinkle Press, 1965.^[21]^[23]
For Fyodor. Toronto: Mongrel, 1973.^[22]
Wilson's Bowl. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1980.^[24]
The Bowl. Lantzville, BC: Island Magazine, 1981.^[21]
Talking. Montreal: Quadrant Editions, 1982.^[22]
Sunday Water: Thirteen Anti-Ghazals. Lantzville, BC: Island Writing Series, 1982.^[25]
Prison Report. Vancouver: Slug Press, 1982.^[22]
Water and Light: Ghazals and Anti-Ghazals: Poems. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1984.^[26]
Hanging Fire. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1990.^[27]
Hulcoop, John, ed. Selected Poems, 1954–1965. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1971.^[23]
Thesen, Sharon, ed. Selected Poems: The Vision Tree. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1982.^[24]
Hulcoop, John, ed. Peacock Blue: The Collected Poems. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2014.^[28]

Prose[edit]

Nothing but Brush Strokes: Selected Prose. Edmonton, AB: NeWest, 1995.^[29]

Edited[edit]

The Griffin Poetry Prize Anthology: A Selection of the 2004 Shortlist. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2004.^[30]

Notes[edit]

^ ^a ^b Thesen, Sharon (July 29, 2016). "Phyllis Webb". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Woodcock, George; Wheatley, Patience (2001). "Webb, Phyllis". In Riggs, Thomas (ed.). Contemporary Poets (7th ed.). St. James Press. pp. 1260–1262. ISBN 1-55862-349-3. ISSN 1531-2240. OCLC 45148536.
^ Geddes, Gary (1997). "Webb, Phyllis". In Toye, William; Benson, Eugene (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature (2d ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 1172–1173. ISBN 0-19-541167-6. OCLC 39624837.
^ ^a ^b Butling 1997, p. 132.
^ ^a ^b ^c Frey 1985, p. 390.
^ Butling 1997, p. 12.
^ Butling 1997, p. 21.
^ Butling 1997, p. 22.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bowering, George (2013). "Webb, Phyllis". In Noel-Tod, Jeremy; Hamilton, Ian (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry (2d ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 645. ISBN 978-0-19-964025-6. OCLC 825557412.
^ Butling 1997, pp. 29–30.
^ Butling 1997, p. 32.
^ Butling 2009, p. 237.
^ ^a ^b Butling 2009, p. 238.
^ Butling 1997, p. 150.
^ Collis 2007, p. 122.
^ Collis, Stephen (2015). "The Kropotkin Poems". Canadian Literature. 225: 165–166.
^ ^a ^b McLeod 2019, p. 72.
^ ^a ^b Butling 1997, p. 160.
^ "Ms. Phyllis Webb". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Canadian poet and broadcaster Phyllis Webb dead at 94". CBC Books. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cox, Michael (2001). A Dictionary of Writers and Their Works. Oxford University Press. p. 291. ISBN 0-19-866249-1. OCLC 45648515.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Frey 1985, p. 394.
^ ^a ^b ^c Frey 1985, p. 391.
^ ^a ^b Frey 1985, p. 392.
^ Frey 1985, p. 393.
^ Murray, Heather (September 1986). "Water and Light: Ghazals and Anti Ghazals, Phyllis Webb". Canadian Woman Studies. ISSN 0713-3235.
^ Collis 2007, pp. 22–23.
^ Whiteman, Bruce (February 3, 2016). "Phyllis Webb's Peacock Blue: The Collected Poems". Canadian Notes & Queries. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
^ Sullivan, Rosemary (1997). "Nothing But Brush Strokes: Selected Prose". University of Toronto Quarterly. 67 (1): 328–330. ProQuest 224046019.
^ Butler, Marian, ed. (2005). Canadian Books in Print: Author and Title Index: 2005. University of Toronto Press. p. 995. ISSN 0068-8398.

Sources[edit]

Butling, Pauline (August 24, 2009). "Phyllis Webb as Public Intellectual". In Brandt, Di; Godard, Barbara (eds.). Wider Boundaries of Daring: The Modernist Impulse in Canadian Women's Poetry. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 978-1-55458-032-3.
Butling, Pauline (1997). Seeing in the Dark: The Poetry of Phyllis Webb. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 0-585-18356-2. OCLC 44963039.
Collis, Stephen (2007). Phyllis Webb and the Common Good: Poetry, Anarchy, Abstraction. Talonbooks. ISBN 978-0-88922-559-6. OCLC 82772035.
Frey, Cecelia (1985). "Phyllis Webb: An Annotated Bibliography". In Lecker, Robert; David, Jack (eds.). The Annotated Bibliography of Canada's Major Authors. Vol. 6. ECW Press. pp. 389–448. ISBN 0-920802-08-7. OCLC 6489562.
McLeod, Katherine (2019). "Poetry on TV: Unarchiving Phyllis Webb's CBC-TV Program, Extension (1967)". In Camlot, Jason; McLeod, Katherine (eds.). CanLit Across Media: Unarchiving the Literary Event. McGill–Queen's University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctvscxtkg.8. ISBN 978-0-7735-5981-3. OCLC 1109389484. S2CID 242218949.

External links[edit]

Phyllis Webb discography at Discogs
Reading by Webb, 1966, via SpokenWeb

[canenc-1] Thesen, Sharon (July 29, 2016). "Phyllis Webb". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 13, 2021.

[woodcockwheatley2001-2] Woodcock, George; Wheatley, Patience (2001). "Webb, Phyllis". In Riggs, Thomas (ed.). Contemporary Poets (7th ed.). St. James Press. pp. 1260–1262. ISBN 1-55862-349-3. ISSN 1531-2240. OCLC 45148536.

[geddes1997-3] Geddes, Gary (1997). "Webb, Phyllis". In Toye, William; Benson, Eugene (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature (2d ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 1172–1173. ISBN 0-19-541167-6. OCLC 39624837.

[FOOTNOTEButling1997132-4] Butling 1997, p. 132.

[FOOTNOTEFrey1985390-5] Frey 1985, p. 390.

[FOOTNOTEButling199712-6] Butling 1997, p. 12.

[FOOTNOTEButling199721-7] Butling 1997, p. 21.

[FOOTNOTEButling199722-8] Butling 1997, p. 22.

[bowering2013-9] Bowering, George (2013). "Webb, Phyllis". In Noel-Tod, Jeremy; Hamilton, Ian (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry (2d ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 645. ISBN 978-0-19-964025-6. OCLC 825557412.

[FOOTNOTEButling199729–30-10] Butling 1997, pp. 29–30.

[FOOTNOTEButling199732-11] Butling 1997, p. 32.

[FOOTNOTEButling2009237-12] Butling 2009, p. 237.

[FOOTNOTEButling2009238-13] Butling 2009, p. 238.

[FOOTNOTEButling1997150-14] Butling 1997, p. 150.

[FOOTNOTECollis2007122-15] Collis 2007, p. 122.

[16] Collis, Stephen (2015). "The Kropotkin Poems". Canadian Literature. 225: 165–166.

[FOOTNOTEMcLeod201972-17] McLeod 2019, p. 72.

[FOOTNOTEButling1997160-18] Butling 1997, p. 160.

[19] "Ms. Phyllis Webb". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved November 13, 2021.

[:0-20] "Canadian poet and broadcaster Phyllis Webb dead at 94". CBC Books. Retrieved November 12, 2021.

[cox2001-21] Cox, Michael (2001). A Dictionary of Writers and Their Works. Oxford University Press. p. 291. ISBN 0-19-866249-1. OCLC 45648515.

[FOOTNOTEFrey1985394-22] Frey 1985, p. 394.

[FOOTNOTEFrey1985391-23] Frey 1985, p. 391.

[FOOTNOTEFrey1985392-24] Frey 1985, p. 392.

[FOOTNOTEFrey1985393-25] Frey 1985, p. 393.

[26] Murray, Heather (September 1986). "Water and Light: Ghazals and Anti Ghazals, Phyllis Webb". Canadian Woman Studies. ISSN 0713-3235.

[FOOTNOTECollis200722–23-27] Collis 2007, pp. 22–23.

[28] Whiteman, Bruce (February 3, 2016). "Phyllis Webb's Peacock Blue: The Collected Poems". Canadian Notes & Queries. Retrieved November 13, 2021.

[29] Sullivan, Rosemary (1997). "Nothing But Brush Strokes: Selected Prose". University of Toronto Quarterly. 67 (1): 328–330. ProQuest 224046019.

[30] Butler, Marian, ed. (2005). Canadian Books in Print: Author and Title Index: 2005. University of Toronto Press. p. 995. ISSN 0068-8398.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{short description|Canadian poet and radio broadcaster|bot=PearBOT 5}}
+{{Short description|Canadian poet and broadcaster (1927–2021)}}
 {{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. -->
+| honorific_suffix = [[Order of Canada|OC]]
-| image            =
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-| alt              =
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-| pseudonym        =
-| birth_name       =
 | birth_date       = {{Birth date|1927|04|08}}
 | birth_place      = [[Victoria, British Columbia]], Canada
 | death_date       = {{Death date and age|2021|11|11|1927|04|08|}}
-| death_place      = [[Salt Spring Island]], British Columbia, Canada
+| death_place      = [[Salt Spring Island, British Columbia]], Canada
+| occupation       = {{hlist|[[Poet]]|[[radio personality|radio broadcaster]]}}
-| resting_place    =
+| notableworks     = ''Naked Poems'' (1965)<br/>''Wilson's Bowl'' (1980)
-| occupation       = [[poet]] and [[radio personality|radio broadcaster]]
+| awards           = [[Governor General's Awards|Governor General's Award]] (1982)
-| language         = English
-| nationality      = Canadian
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 }}
 {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}{{Use Canadian English|date=November 2021}}
-'''Phyllis Webb''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|OC}} (April 8, 1927 – November 11, 2021) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[poet]] and [[radio personality|radio broadcaster]].
+'''Phyllis Webb''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|OC}} (April 8, 1927 – November 11, 2021) was a Canadian poet and broadcaster.
+Webb's poetry had diverse influences, ranging from [[neo-Confucianism]] to the field theory of composition developed by the [[Black Mountain poets]]. Critics have described her collections ''Naked Poems'' (1965) and ''Wilson's Bowl'' (1980) as important works in contemporary [[Canadian literature]].
-==Life==
+As a broadcaster at the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] (CBC) in the 1960s, Webb created programs including [[Ideas (radio show)|''Ideas'']] and ''Extension'', a television program about Canadian poetry. She left the CBC in 1967 to return to [[British Columbia]], where she remained for much of her life.
-Phyllis Webb was born on April 8, 1928, in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].<ref name="canenc">{{Cite web|last=Thesen|first=Sharon|date=2016-07-29|title=Phyllis Webb|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/phyllis-webb|access-date=2021-11-13|website=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> She attended the [[University of British Columbia]] and [[McGill University]]. In 1949, aged 22, she ran as a candidate for the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] in the [[1949 British Columbia general election]].<ref name="geddes1997">{{Cite book|last=Geddes|first=Gary|title=The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1997|isbn=0-19-541167-6|editor-last1=Toye|editor-first1=William|editor-link1=William Toye (author)|edition=2d|pages=[[iarchive:oxfordcompaniont00toye/page/1172/mode/1up|1172–1173]]|chapter=Webb, Phyllis|oclc=39624837|author-link=Gary Geddes|editor-last2=Benson|editor-first2=Eugene|editor-link2=Eugene Benson}}</ref>
+==Early life and education==
-Her poetry was published in 1954 in ''Trio'', an anthology of poems by [[Eli Mandel]], [[Gael Turnbull]], and Webb published by [[Raymond Souster]]'s Contact Press.<ref name=brock>"[http://www.brocku.ca/canadianwomenpoets/Webb.htm Phyllis Webb]," Canadian Women Poets, BrockU.ca, Web, Apr. 12, 2011</ref> [[George Bowering]] describes Webb's 1965 book ''Naked Poems'' as a "key text in contemporary Canadian literature".<ref name="bowering2013">{{Cite book|last=Bowering|first=George|title=The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-964025-6|editor-last1=Noel-Tod|editor-first1=Jeremy|edition=2d|page=[[iarchive:oxfordcompaniont0000unse_d2l7/page/645/mode/1up|645]]|chapter=Webb, Phyllis|oclc=825557412|author-link=George Bowering|editor-last2=Hamilton|editor-first2=Ian}}</ref> Webb's poems often concern death, particularly suicide.<ref name="bowering2013" />
+Phyllis Webb was born on April 8, 1927, in [[Victoria, British Columbia]].<ref name="canenc">{{Cite web|last=Thesen|first=Sharon|date=July 29, 2016|title=Phyllis Webb|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/phyllis-webb|access-date=November 13, 2021|website=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> She attended the [[University of British Columbia]], where she received a BA in English and philosophy in 1949, and [[McGill University]].<ref name="woodcockwheatley2001" /> In 1949, aged 22, she ran as a candidate for the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]] in the [[1949 British Columbia general election]].<ref name="geddes1997">{{Cite book|last=Geddes|first=Gary|title=The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1997|isbn=0-19-541167-6|editor-last1=Toye|editor-first1=William|editor-link1=William Toye (author)|edition=2d|pages=[[iarchive:oxfordcompaniont00toye/page/1172/mode/1up|1172–1173]]|chapter=Webb, Phyllis|oclc=39624837|author-link=Gary Geddes|editor-last2=Benson|editor-first2=Eugene|editor-link2=Eugene Benson}}</ref> In 1957 Webb won a grant that allowed her to study theatre in France.<ref name="canenc" />
+== Poetry ==
-In 1957 Webb won a grant that allowed her to study theatre in [[France]].<ref name="canenc"/>
+Webb's first poems were published in ''Contemporary Verse'', a magazine run by Alan Crawley.<ref name="woodcockwheatley2001" /> Her first book publication was in ''Trio'', a collection of poems by [[Eli Mandel]], [[Gael Turnbull]], and Webb published by [[Raymond Souster]]'s Contact Press.{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=132}}{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=390}} In the 1950s, Webb became interested in [[Eastern philosophy]]; critic Pauline Butling suggests that Webb's early work shows the influence of [[neo-Confucianism]]'s metaphysics of time.{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=12}}
+Webb's approach shifted in the 1960s toward a model of poetry influenced by the field theory of composition developed by [[Charles Olson]] and the [[Black Mountain poets]].{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=21}} The field theory was a jumping-off point for ''Naked Poems'', which she started in 1963 and published in 1965.{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=22}}<ref name="bowering2013" /> [[George Bowering]] describes ''Naked Poems'' as a "key text in contemporary Canadian literature".<ref name="bowering2013">{{Cite book|last=Bowering|first=George|title=The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-964025-6|editor-last1=Noel-Tod|editor-first1=Jeremy|edition=2d|page=[[iarchive:oxfordcompaniont0000unse_d2l7/page/645/mode/1up|645]]|chapter=Webb, Phyllis|oclc=825557412|author-link=George Bowering|editor-last2=Hamilton|editor-first2=Ian}}</ref> ''Wilson's Bowl'' (1980) adopts a new [[poetics]] centred on a critique of political and interpersonal power, drawing from [[Haida people|Haida]] stories "to undermine the binary structures of Western thought".{{Sfn|Butling|1997|pp=29–30}} Critic [[Northrop Frye]] called it a "landmark".<ref name="woodcockwheatley2001" /> Webb composed the poems in ''Hanging Fire'' (1990) by waiting for words to arrive in her mind. She said in an interview that adopting this passive stance allowed her to focus more on the external world.{{Sfn|Butling|1997|pp=|p=32}}
-Beginning in 1964, Webb worked as a writer and broadcaster for the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] (CBC).{{Sfn|Butling|2009|p=237}} In 1965 she created, with William A. Young, the radio program ''[[Ideas (radio show)|Ideas]]''.{{Sfn|Butling|2009|p=238}} From 1967 to 1969, Webb was its executive producer.{{Sfn|Butling|2009|p=238}} In 1967, she travelled to the [[Soviet Union]], carrying out research on the anarchist [[Peter Kropotkin]];{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=150}} she later proposed, but did not complete, a cycle of poems called "The Kropotkin Poems".{{Sfn|Collis|2007|p=122}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Collis|first=Stephen|date=2015|title=The Kropotkin Poems|url=https://canlit.ca/article/the-kropotkin-poems/|journal=[[Canadian Literature (journal)|Canadian Literature]]|volume=225|pages=165–166}}</ref> Also in 1967, Webb created the CBC television program ''Extension'', a series about Canadian poetry.{{Sfn|McLeod|2019|p=72}} Soon after ''Extension'' finished, McLeod moved from Toronto to [[Salt Spring Island]], British Columbia,{{Sfn|McLeod|2019|p=72}} where she lived for much of her life.<ref name=":0" />
-Webb taught creative writing at the [[University of British Columbia]], the [[University of Victoria]], and the Banff Centre, and was writer-in-residence at the [[University of Alberta]] from 1980 to 1981.<ref name=brock/>
+Webb taught creative writing at the [[University of British Columbia]], the [[University of Victoria]], and the Banff Centre, and was writer-in-residence at the [[University of Alberta]] from 1980 to 1981.<ref name="woodcockwheatley2001" />
+Webb's poems often concern death, particularly suicide.<ref name="bowering2013" />
-Webb died at Lady Minto Hospital on Salt Spring Island on November 11, 2021.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Canadian poet and broadcaster Phyllis Webb dead at 94|url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadian-poet-and-broadcaster-phyllis-webb-dead-at-94-1.6247131/|access-date=2021-11-12|website=CBC Books|language=en-GB}}</ref>
-==Honours==
+== Broadcasting ==
+Beginning in 1964, Webb worked as a writer and broadcaster for the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] (CBC).{{Sfn|Butling|2009|p=237}} In 1965 she created, with William A. Young, the radio program ''[[Ideas (radio show)|Ideas]]''.{{Sfn|Butling|2009|p=238}} From 1967 to 1969, Webb was its executive producer.{{Sfn|Butling|2009|p=238}} In 1967, she travelled to the [[Soviet Union]], carrying out research on the anarchist [[Peter Kropotkin]];{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=150}} she later proposed, but did not complete, a cycle of poems called "The Kropotkin Poems".{{Sfn|Collis|2007|p=122}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Collis|first=Stephen|date=2015|title=The Kropotkin Poems|url=https://canlit.ca/article/the-kropotkin-poems/|journal=[[Canadian Literature (journal)|Canadian Literature]]|volume=225|pages=165–166}}</ref> Also in 1967, Webb created the CBC television program ''Extension'', a series about Canadian poetry.{{Sfn|McLeod|2019|p=72}}
+==Honours==
-In 1980 Webb was awarded a prize of CA$2,300 by fellow Canadian poets in recognition of her book ''Wilson's Bowl'', which was overlooked for a Governor General's Award nomination that year; "the letter accompanying the prize money stated that 'this gesture is a response to your whole body of work as well as to your presence as a touchstone of true good writing in Canada, which we all know is beyond awards and prizes'".<ref name=brock/>
+In 1980 Webb was awarded a prize of CA$2,300 by fellow Canadian poets in recognition of her book ''Wilson's Bowl'', which was overlooked for a Governor General's Award nomination that year. The award citation stated, in part, "this gesture is a response to your whole body of work as well as to your presence as a touchstone of true good writing in Canada, which we all know is beyond awards and prizes".{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=160}}
 Webb won the [[Governor General's Literary Award]] for Poetry, [[1982 Governor General's Awards|1982]], for ''The Vision Tree''.{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=160}}
-She won [[Canada Council]] awards in 1981 and 1987.<ref name="woodcockwheatley2001">{{Cite book|chapter=Webb, Phyllis|chapter-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/webb-phyllis-0|last=Woodcock|first=George|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45148536|title=Contemporary Poets|last2=Wheatley|first2=Patience|date=|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|St. James Press]]|editor-last1=Riggs|editor-first1=Thomas|year=2001|isbn=1-55862-349-3|edition=7th|pages=[[iarchive:contemporarypoet0000unse_q1s2/page/1260/mode/1up|1260–1262]]|oclc=45148536|issn=1531-2240}}</ref>
+She won [[Canada Council]] awards in 1981 and 1987.<ref name="woodcockwheatley2001">{{Cite book|chapter=Webb, Phyllis|chapter-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/webb-phyllis-0|last1=Woodcock|first1=George|title=Contemporary Poets|last2=Wheatley|first2=Patience|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|St. James Press]]|editor-last1=Riggs|editor-first1=Thomas|year=2001|isbn=1-55862-349-3|edition=7th|pages=[[iarchive:contemporarypoet0000unse_q1s2/page/1260/mode/1up|1260–1262]]|oclc=45148536|issn=1531-2240}}</ref>
-She became an officer of the [[Order of Canada]] in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ms. Phyllis Webb|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-3924|access-date=2021-11-13|publisher=[[Governor General of Canada]]}}</ref>
+She became an officer of the [[Order of Canada]] in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ms. Phyllis Webb|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-3924|access-date=November 13, 2021|publisher=[[Governor General of Canada]]}}</ref>
+== Personal life ==
+Soon after ''Extension'' finished, Webb moved from Toronto to [[Salt Spring Island]], British Columbia,{{Sfn|McLeod|2019|p=72}} where she lived for much of her life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Canadian poet and broadcaster Phyllis Webb dead at 94|url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadian-poet-and-broadcaster-phyllis-webb-dead-at-94-1.6247131/|access-date=November 12, 2021|website=CBC Books|language=en-GB}}</ref> Webb died at Lady Minto Hospital on Salt Spring Island on November 11, 2021.<ref name=":0" />
 ==Bibliography==
 ===Poetry===
 * ''Trio: First Poems by Gael Turnbull, Phyllis Webb, and Eli Mandel.'' Toronto: Contact Press, 1954.{{Sfn|Butling|1997|p=132}}{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=390}}
-* ''Even Your Right Eye.'' Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1956.<ref name="cox2001">{{Cite book|last=Cox|first=Michael|title=A Dictionary of Writers and Their Works|date=|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2001|isbn=0-19-866249-1|page=[[iarchive:dictionaryofwrit0000coxm/page/291/mode/1up|291]]|oclc=45648515}}</ref>{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=390}}
+* ''Even Your Right Eye.'' Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1956.<ref name="cox2001">{{Cite book|last=Cox|first=Michael|title=A Dictionary of Writers and Their Works|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2001|isbn=0-19-866249-1|page=[[iarchive:dictionaryofwrit0000coxm/page/291/mode/1up|291]]|oclc=45648515}}</ref>{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=390}}
 * ''In a Garden of the Pitti Palace; A Pang Cantata: 2 New Poems.'' Vancouver: Pica Press, 1961.{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=394}}
 * ''The Sea is Also a Garden: Poems.'' Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1962.{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=391}}
@@ Line 78: / Line 59: @@
 * ''Prison Report.'' Vancouver: Slug Press, 1982.{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=394}}
 * ''Water and Light: Ghazals and Anti-Ghazals: Poems.'' Toronto: Coach House Press, 1984.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Murray|first=Heather|date=September 1986|title=Water and Light: Ghazals and Anti Ghazals, Phyllis Webb|url=https://cws.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cws/article/view/12445|journal=[[Canadian Woman Studies]]|language=en|issn=0713-3235}}</ref>
-* ''Hanging Fire.'' Toronto: Coach House Press, 1990.
+* ''Hanging Fire.'' Toronto: Coach House Press, 1990.{{Sfn|Collis|2007|pp=22–23}}
-* ''Grape Vine.'' Vancouver: Slug Press, 1992.
+* Hulcoop, John, ed. ''Selected Poems, 1954–1965.'' Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1971.{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=391}}
+* Thesen, Sharon, ed. ''Selected Poems: The Vision Tree.'' Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1982.{{Sfn|Frey|1985|p=392}}
-* ''Four Swans in Fulford Harbour.'' Salt Spring Island, BC: (m)Other Tongue Press, 1999.
+* Hulcoop, John, ed. ''Peacock Blue: The Collected Poems.'' Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Whiteman|first=Bruce|date=February 3, 2016|title=Phyllis Webb's Peacock Blue: The Collected Poems|url=http://notesandqueries.ca/reviews/bruce-whiteman-phyllis-webbs-peacock-blue-the-collected-poems/|access-date=November 13, 2021|website=[[Canadian Notes & Queries]]|language=en-US}}</ref>
-* Hulcoop, John, ed. ''Selected Poems, 1954-1965.'' Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1971.
-* Thesen, Sharon, ed. ''Selected Poems: the Vision Tree.'' Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1982.
-* Butling, Pauline, ed. ''Seeing in the Dark: the Poetry of Phyllis Webb.'' Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1997.
-* Hulcoop, John, ed. ''Peacock Blue: The Collected Poems.'' Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2014.
 ===Prose===
-* ''Nothing but Brush Strokes: Selected Prose.'' Edmonton, AB: NeWest, 1995.
+* ''Nothing but Brush Strokes: Selected Prose.'' Edmonton, AB: NeWest, 1995.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sullivan|first=Rosemary|date=1997|title=Nothing But Brush Strokes: Selected Prose|journal=University of Toronto Quarterly|volume=67|issue=1|pages=328–330|id={{ProQuest|224046019}}}}</ref>
-* “Radio Talks: From the Phyllis Webb Papers, National Library.” ''West Coast Line'' 25.3 (1991): 95-102.
 ===Edited===
-''The [[Griffin Poetry Prize]] Anthology: A Selection of the 2004 Shortlist.'' Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2004.
+* ''The [[Griffin Poetry Prize]] Anthology: A Selection of the 2004 Shortlist.'' Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2004.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2WLJa9rY5MC|title=Canadian Books in Print: Author and Title Index: 2005|date=2005|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|editor-last=Butler|editor-first=Marian|pages=995|language=en|issn=0068-8398}}</ref>
-<small>''Except where otherwise noted, bibliographical information courtesy Brock University.''</small><ref name="brock"/>
-==Sound/video recordings==
-* ''Alex'' [sound]. Toronto: CBC Pub., 1966.
-* ''Canadian Poets I'' [sound]. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1966.
-* ''Phyllis Webb: The Question as an Instrument of Torture.'' [sound] Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1971.
-* ''Phyllis Webb: Poetry and Psychobiography.'' [sound] 1993.
-* ''Fall Equinox Reading at the Literary Storefront.'' Tape #4, Mona Fertig, Phyllis Webb, David Frith, Robert Tyhurst & Lakshmi Gill. [sound] Vancouver: s.n., 1981.
-* ''Phyllis Webb.'' [video] Burnaby, BC: SFU Art Gallery, 1981.
-<small>''Except where otherwise noted, sound/video information courtesy Brock University.''</small><ref name="brock"/>
 ==Notes==
@@ Line 110: / Line 74: @@
 ==Sources==
-* {{Cite book|last=Butling|first=Pauline|chapter=Phyllis Webb as Public Intellectual|editor-last1=Brandt|editor-first1=Di|editor-last2=Godard|editor-first2=Barbara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aShpBEkpH1UC|title=Wider Boundaries of Daring: The Modernist Impulse in Canadian Women's Poetry|date=2009-08-24|publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]]|isbn=978-1-55458-032-3|language=en}}
+* {{Cite book|last=Butling|first=Pauline|chapter=Phyllis Webb as Public Intellectual|editor-last1=Brandt|editor-first1=Di|editor-last2=Godard|editor-first2=Barbara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aShpBEkpH1UC|title=Wider Boundaries of Daring: The Modernist Impulse in Canadian Women's Poetry|date=August 24, 2009|publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]]|isbn=978-1-55458-032-3|language=en}}
 * {{Cite book|last=Butling|first=Pauline|url=https://archive.org/details/seeingindarkpoet1997butl|url-access=registration|title=Seeing in the Dark: The Poetry of Phyllis Webb|year=1997|publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press]]|isbn=0-585-18356-2|oclc=44963039}}
 *{{Cite book|last=Collis|first=Stephen|url=https://archive.org/details/phylliswebbcomm00coll|url-access=registration|title=Phyllis Webb and the Common Good: Poetry, Anarchy, Abstraction|year=2007|publisher=[[Talonbooks]]|isbn=978-0-88922-559-6|oclc=82772035}}
-* {{Cite book|last=Frey|first=Cecelia|chapter=Phyllis Webb: An Annotated Bibliography|editor-last1=Lecker|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=David|editor-first2=Jack|title=The Annotated Bibliography of Canada's Major Authors|date=1985|publisher=[[ECW Press]]|isbn=0-920802-08-7|pages=[[iarchive:annotatedbibliog0006unse/page/389/mode/1up|389–448]]|oclc=6489562|volume=6}}
+* {{Cite book|last=Frey|first=Cecelia|author-link=Cecelia Frey|chapter=Phyllis Webb: An Annotated Bibliography|editor-last1=Lecker|editor-first1=Robert|editor-last2=David|editor-first2=Jack|title=The Annotated Bibliography of Canada's Major Authors|date=1985|publisher=[[ECW Press]]|isbn=0-920802-08-7|pages=[[iarchive:annotatedbibliog0006unse/page/389/mode/1up|389–448]]|oclc=6489562|volume=6}}
-* {{Cite book|last=McLeod|first=Katherine|chapter=Poetry on TV: Unarchiving Phyllis Webb's CBC-TV Program, ''Extension'' (1967)|editor-last1=Camlot|editor-first1=Jason|editor-last2=McLeod|editor-first2=Katherine|title=CanLit Across Media: Unarchiving the Literary Event|year=2019|isbn=978-0-7735-5981-3|publisher=[[McGill–Queen's University Press]]|doi=10.2307/j.ctvscxtkg.8|oclc=1109389484}}
+* {{Cite book|last=McLeod|first=Katherine|chapter=Poetry on TV: Unarchiving Phyllis Webb's CBC-TV Program, ''Extension'' (1967)|editor-last1=Camlot|editor-first1=Jason|editor-last2=McLeod|editor-first2=Katherine|title=CanLit Across Media: Unarchiving the Literary Event|year=2019|isbn=978-0-7735-5981-3|publisher=[[McGill–Queen's University Press]]|doi=10.2307/j.ctvscxtkg.8|s2cid=242218949|oclc=1109389484}}
 ==Further reading==
-* Cash, Gwen. “Portrait of a Poet: Victoria's Phyllis Webb.” ''B.C. Magazine'' 6 April 1957: 17.
+* Cash, Gwen. “Portrait of a Poet: Victoria's Phyllis Webb.” ''B.C. Magazine'' April 6, 1957: 17.
+* {{Cite web|last=Collis|first=Stephen|date=2017-07-31|title=Placeways in the Anthropocene: Phyllis Webb's Canadian West Coast|url=http://cordite.org.au/essays/placeways-in-the-anthropocene/|website=Cordite Poetry Review}}
-* Fagan, Cary. “The Articulate Anger of Phyllis Webb.” ''[[Books In Canada]]'' 20.1 (1991): 21-23.
+* Fagan, Cary. “The Articulate Anger of Phyllis Webb.” ''[[Books In Canada]]'' 20.1 (1991): 21–23.
-* [[Cecelia Frey|Frey, Cecelia]]. “Phyllis Webb: An Annotated Bibliography.” The Annotated Bibliography of Canada's Major Authors. Eds. Robert Lecker and Jack David. Vol.6. Toronto: ECW, 1985. 489-98.
-* Hulcoop, John. “Phyllis Webb and the Priestess of Motion.” Canadian Literature 32 (1967): 29-39.
+* Hulcoop, John. “Phyllis Webb and the Priestess of Motion.” Canadian Literature 32 (1967): 29–39.
-* Kamboureli, Smaro. “Seeking Shape, Seeking Meaning: An interview with Phyllis Webb.” West Coast Line 25.3 (1991): 21-41.
+* Kamboureli, Smaro. “Seeking Shape, Seeking Meaning: An interview with Phyllis Webb.” West Coast Line 25.3 (1991): 21–41.
-* Knight, Lorna. “Oh for the Carp of a Critic: Research in the Phyllis Webb Papers.” West Coast Line 26.2 (1992): 120-127.
+* Knight, Lorna. “Oh for the Carp of a Critic: Research in the Phyllis Webb Papers.” West Coast Line 26.2 (1992): 120–127.
-* Macfarlane, Julian. Rev. of Selected Poems, by Phyllis Webb. The Capilano Review 1 (1972): 53-58.
+* Macfarlane, Julian. Rev. of Selected Poems, by Phyllis Webb. The Capilano Review 1 (1972): 53–58.
-* Munton, Ann. “Excerpt from an Interview with Phyllis Webb.” West Coast Line 25.3 (1991): 81-85.
+* Munton, Ann. “Excerpt from an Interview with Phyllis Webb.” West Coast Line 25.3 (1991): 81–85.
 * Potvin, Liza. "[http://www.canadianpoetry.ca/cpjrn/vol32/potvin.htm Phyllis Webb: The Voice That Breaks]"
-* [[Leila Sujir|Sujir, Leila]]. “Addressing a Presence: An Interview with Phyllis Webb.” Prairie Fire 9.1 (1988): 30-43.
+* [[Leila Sujir|Sujir, Leila]]. “Addressing a Presence: An Interview with Phyllis Webb.” Prairie Fire 9.1 (1988): 30–43.
 ==External links==
+{{Archival records|location=[[Library and Archives Canada]]}}
-* [http://cordite.org.au/essays/placeways-in-the-anthropocene/ Placeways in the Anthropocene: Phyllis Webb’s Canadian West Coast], ''Cordite Poetry Review''
+* {{Discogs artist}}
-* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/phyllis-webb/ Phyllis Webb entry in ''The Canadian Encyclopedia]''.
+* [https://montreal.spokenweb.ca/sgw-poetry-readings/phyllis-webb-at-sgwu-1966-roy-kiyooka/ Reading by Webb], 1966, via SpokenWeb
-* Archives of Phyllis Webb [http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=3673830&lang=eng (Phyllis Webb fonds, R11841)] are held at [[Library and Archives Canada]]
+{{Governor General's English poetry|state=collapsed}}
 {{Authority control}}
@@ Line 141: / Line 106: @@
 [[Category:20th-century Canadian women writers]]
 [[Category:Canadian modernist poets]]
-[[Category:Modernist women writers]]
 [[Category:Canadian women poets]]
+[[Category:McGill University alumni]]
+[[Category:Modernist women writers]]
 [[Category:Governor General's Award-winning poets]]
 [[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada]]
+[[Category:University of British Columbia alumni]]
 [[Category:Writers from Victoria, British Columbia]]

v t e Winners of the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry
1980s	F. R. Scott, The Collected Poems of F. R. Scott (1981) Phyllis Webb, The Vision Tree: Selected Poems (1982) David Donnell, Settlements (1983) Paulette Jiles, Celestial Navigation (1984) Fred Wah, Waiting for Saskatchewan (1985) Al Purdy, The Collected Poems of Al Purdy (1986) Gwendolyn MacEwen, Afterworlds (1987) Erín Moure, Furious (1988) Heather Spears, The Word for Sand (1989)
1990s	Margaret Avison, No Time (1990) Don McKay, Night Field (1991) Lorna Crozier, Inventing the Hawk (1992) Don Coles, Forests of the Medieval World (1993) Robert Hilles, Cantos from a Small Room (1994) Anne Szumigalski, Voice (1995) E. D. Blodgett, Apostrophes: Woman at a Piano (1996) Dionne Brand, Land to Light On (1997) Stephanie Bolster, White Stone: The Alice Poems (1998) Jan Zwicky, Songs for Relinquishing the Earth (1999)
2000s	Don McKay, Another Gravity (2000) George Elliott Clarke, Execution Poems (2001) Roy Miki, Surrender (2002) Tim Lilburn, Kill-site (2003) Roo Borson, Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida (2004) Anne Compton, processional (2005) John Pass, Stumbling in the Bloom (2006) Don Domanski, All Our Wonder Unavenged (2007) Jacob Scheier, More to Keep Us Warm (2008) David Zieroth, The Fly in Autumn (2009)
2010s	Richard Greene, Boxing the Compass (2010) Phil Hall, Killdeer (2011) Julie Bruck, Monkey Ranch (2012) Katherena Vermette, North End Love Songs (2013) Arleen Paré, Lake of Two Mountains (2014) Robyn Sarah, My Shoes Are Killing Me (2015) Steven Heighton, The Waking Comes Late (2016) Richard Harrison, On Not Losing My Father's Ashes in the Flood (2017) Cecily Nicholson, Wayside Sang (2018) Gwen Benaway, Holy Wild (2019)
2020s	Anne Carson, Norma Jeane Baker of Troy (2020) Tolu Oloruntoba, The Junta of Happenstance (2021) Annick MacAskill, Shadow Blight (2022) Hannah Green, Xanax Cowboy (2023)

Authority control databases
International	FAST ISNI VIAF
National	Norway France BnF data Germany Israel United States Australia Croatia Netherlands Portugal
Academics	CiNii
Other	SNAC IdRef

Latest revision as of 15:21, 27 September 2023

Early life and education[edit]

Poetry[edit]

Broadcasting[edit]

Honours[edit]

Personal life[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Poetry[edit]

Prose[edit]

Edited[edit]

Notes[edit]

Sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]