David McFadden
David McFadden was a prominent Canadian writer born on October 11, 1940, in Hamilton, Ontario. He began his writing journey at a young age, evolving from diary entries to poetry, with his first poems published in Canadian literary magazines in the 1960s. Throughout his career, McFadden was involved in various writing roles, including founding and editing the local periodical *Mountain*, and he worked as a proofreader and reporter for the *Hamilton Spectator*.
McFadden's literary contributions spanned poetry, novels, and travel writing, showcasing his ability to blend traditional forms with innovative styles. His notable works include *The Great Canadian Sonnet* and the satirical novels *A Trip Around Lake Erie* and *A Trip Around Lake Huron*. He also gained recognition for his poetry collections, winning multiple awards, including the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2013 for *What’s the Score?*
Beyond his literary achievements, McFadden’s personal life, including his family and experiences, often inspired his writing. He faced the challenges of Alzheimer's disease later in life, ultimately passing away on June 6, 2018, in Toronto. His legacy remains as a celebrated figure who captured the essence of everyday life in his work.
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David McFadden
- Born: October 11, 1940
- Birthplace: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Died: June 6, 2018
- Place of death: Toronto, Canada
Biography
David McFadden was born on October 11, 1940, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the son of William and Elizabeth Pidgeon McFadden. When he was eight, he began keeping a diary. He soon was bored with his diary entries, and he recalled that he began finding ways to make his diary more interesting. McFadden continued writing throughout his school years in Hamilton, completing a novel while he was in high school. In 1960, he began writing poetry, and soon his poems began appearing in Canadian little magazines. McFadden started a local periodical, Mountain, in 1960 and edited the publication for three years. After graduating from high school, he worked at various jobs until in 1962, he was hired by the Hamilton Spectator as a proofreader.
In 1963, McFadden married Joan Pearce of Hamilton; they had two daughters, Alison and Jennifer, before they divorced in 1979. His family, their pets, friends, and daily lives made up the substance of much of his early poetry and prose.
McFadden became a reporter at the Spectator in 1970 and remained there until 1976, when he left to become a freelance writer. His first book-length publication was a twenty-seven-page poem, The Poem Poem. In 1970, he published his first novel, The Great Canadian Sonnet, a picaresque narrative in the form of a child’s Big Little Book. His short-story collection, Animal Spirits: Stories to Live By, was formatted like a child’s Golden Book.
In 1978, McFadden moved to British Columbia, where he spent a year as writer in residence at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby and four years as a creative writing instructor with the Kootenay School of Writing at the David Thompson University Center in Nelson. In 1980, he founded the periodical Writing. During this period, McFadden wrote two satirical novels, A Trip Around Lake Erie and A Trip Around Lake Huron. McFadden wrote the screenplay when another novel one of his novels, A Trip Around Lake Ontario, was made into a film.
McFadden returned to Ontario in 1983, and for a year he was writer-in-residence at the University of Western Ontario. For two years, he also wrote a regular column for Quill and Quire. In 1995, he published the first in a series of witty travel books. An Innocent in Ireland: Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters was followed by books about Scotland, Newfoundland, and Cuba.
McFadden received the Mickey Award in 1975 for his poetry collection, A Knight in Dried Plums. He was awarded Canada Council Senior Fellowships in 1976 and 1982 and received National Magazine Awards in 1981 and 1982. His poem “I Don’t Know” won a Nebula Award in 1977; in 1979, he was the winner of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s long poem competition for A New Romance. The Art of Darkness (1984), a collection of poetry criticizing modern society's commercialism, and Gypsy Guitar: A Hundred Poems of Romance and Betrayal (1987), a book of prose poems inspired by Charles Baudelaire, were both nominated for Governor General’s Awards, as was Be Calm (2008). In 2013 he won the Griffin Poetry Prize for Canadian Poetry for What's the Score? (2012). His final collection, Abnormal Brain Sonnets, was published in 2015.
McFadden is celebrated in Canada as a writer who was at once a master of several traditional forms and an inventor of new ones. In both poetry and prose, he celebrated everyday life, pointed out its incongruities, and revealed the workings of the subconscious mind.
McFadden's longtime partner was Merlin Homer, a noted visual artist in her own right. McFadden was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2012. He died on June 6, 2018, in Toronto, Canada.
Bibliography
"David W. McFadden: Biography." Canadian Poetry Online, canpoetry.library.utoronto.ca/mcfadden/index.htm. Accessed 26 Nov. 2018.
"Life with Dementia: A Poet Loses His Words." UHN, 29 Oct. 2013, www.uhn.ca/corporate/News/Pages/poet‗dementia.aspx. Accessed 26 Nov. 2018.
Peters, Diane. "Poet David McFadden, 77, Was a Master of Magical Yet Accessible Verse." The Globe and Mail, 22 June 2018, www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-poet-david-mcfadden-77-was-a-master-of-magical-yet-accessible-verse/. Accessed 26 Nov. 2018.
Ross, Stuart. "'Full of Wonder': Friend Remembers Late Canadian Poet David McFadden." Interview by Carol Off. As It Happens, 6 June 2018, www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.4694021/full-of-wonder-friend-remembers-late-canadian-poet-david-mcfadden-1.4694026. Accessed 26 Nov. 2018.
Staff, Harriet. "RIP David McFadden." Poetry Foundation, 7 June 2018, www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2018/06/rip-david-mcfadden. Accessed 26 Nov. 2018.