Katherine Hale

by George Dance

Katherine Hale is the pen name of Amelia Beers Warnock (1878 - September 7, 1956), who found success as a Canadian poet and critic.

Life
Warnock was born in 1878 in Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario, the daughter of Katherine Hale Byard of Mobile, Alabama, and James Warnock of Kilmarnock, Scotland. She was educated in Galt and at Miss Veal's School in Toronto, later continuing her education in New York.

In her youth Hale wanted to be an opera singer. As a student in New York she began writing articles on Wagnerian opera, which she sent to The Mail and Empire in Toronto. The paper not only printed her work, but later hired her as its editor of 'Contemporary Literature.'

Hale became well known as a critic for the Mail and Empire, and also " developed recital and lecture work, which is well and widely known." In 1912 she married poet and editor John Garvin.

In 1914, during the early days of World War I, Hale published her first poetry collection, Grey Knitting, a book of war poems. The volume was widely praised, and "a number of the most encouraging criticisms were written by English and American reviewers. It is also noticeable that the small brochure ran into four editions of a thousand each, before it had been on the market for six weeks."

Grey Knitting was followed by two more books of war poetry: The White Comrade in 1916, and The New Joan in 1917. All three books achieved popular success, establishing Hale's reputation as a poet.

Hale's 1923 collection, Morning in the West, was praised by Charles G.D. Roberts and others. "Verily, Lady Dear, I had not realized before how great your gift," Roberts wrote to her. "These lyrics grip & delight me. They are fresh & spontaneous & haunting." Also in 1923, critic J.D. Logan wrote in Highways of Canadian Literature that Hale's "new and distinct achievement" was her portrayal of "Canadian nature and civilization envisaged with a spiritual realism which has national perspective and native colour and atmosphere."

In 1924 Hale published a book on Isabella Valancy Crawford, as part of the Makers of Canada series published by Ryerson Press, which included a bibliography, selections from Crawford's verse, and an "Appreciation" written by Hale.

Hale's 1934 collection, The Island and Other Poems, was positively reviewed by Saturday Night, and won praise from Lotta Dempsey in a 1948 essay on Hale published in Leading Canadian Poets. However, according to Dempsey, "critics found a curious inability to dissect or explain" the poems in The Island, perhaps (noted anthologist Wanda Campbell) because the title poem is experimental in both form and content.

Hale published a final collection of poetry in 1950, The Flute, and Other Poems, which included only three new poems. She also wrote several works of prose on aspects of Ontario and Canadian history.

Hale died on September 7, 1956. She was buried in the city celebrated in her last, posthumously published book: Toronto: Romance of a Great City.

Recognition
Hale's poem "In the Trenches" was set to music by Gina Branscombe.

Poetry

 * Grey Knitting, and Other Poems. Toronto: Briggs, 1914.
 * The White Comrade, and Other Poems. Toronto: McClelland, 1916.
 * The New Joan, and Other Poems. Toronto: McClelland, 1917.
 * Morning in the West. Toronto: Ryerson, 1923.
 * The Island, and Other Poems. Toronto: Mundy-Goodfellow, 1934.
 * The Flute, and Other Poems. Toronto: Ryerson, 1950.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Wanda Campbell, Hidden Rooms.

Prose

 * Pierre Esprit Radisson. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1920.
 * Canadian Cities of Romance. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1922.
 * Canadian Houses of Romance. Toronto: Macmillan, 1926.
 * Legends of the Saint Lawrence. Montreal: Canadian Pacific Railway, 1926.
 * This is Ontario. Toronto: Ryerson, 1937.
 * Toronto: Romance of a Great City. Toronto: Cassell, 1956.