Newly discovered letter shows what a great guy Hemingway was. He offered to help fund the publication of Morley Callaghan's novel, even though Callaghan beat him in a boxing match: “I’d be glad to go 50-50 with you on the cost of publishing it [said Hemingway] because I think once he gets published it will clear things up and he can go on and not worry about this stuff.”

The letters of Montreal poet A. M. Klein have been published. 'Literature was only one of Klein’s pursuits. By profession he was a lawyer, and from 1938 to 1955 he served as editor of the Canadian Jewish Chronicle. He was a speechwriter and publicity consultant for whiskey magnate Samuel Bronfman, and for three years he was a lecturer in poetry at McGill University.'

'July 14, 2012 will mark the centenary of Northrop Frye’s birth, and the Frye Festival is commemorating the 100th anniversary with a series of special events throughout the year.' Frye was still teaching in the English Department when I was an undergrad at Victoria College (in the University of Toronto). Since I was young and stupid, I didn't take any of his courses, but I frequently saw him on campus and was fascinated by his ideas. Frye was an ordained United Church minister who preached at churches in Saskatchewan (as was the president of Victoria University, A. B. B. Moore, a good friend of Frye's). Here's the trailer for a series called 'Northrop Frye on the Bible and Literature':



Jay Macpherson, another literary personage at Victoria College, died last month. Macpherson, a poet, taught in the English Department and was strongly influenced by Frye. Before that, she was an associate of Robert Graves'.

Here's Graves shaving and reading his poem 'Man in the Mirror':