Alan Sullivan

Alan Sullivan (1868-1947) in Canadian Singers and their Songs, 1919. Courtesy Internet Archive.

Alan Sullivan
Sullivan in Canadian Poets (1916)
Born	Edward Alan Sullivan November 29, 1868 Montreal, Quebec
Died	August 6, 1947 (aged 78)
Occupation	writer
Nationality	Canadian
Citizenship	British subject
Notable work(s)	Three Came to Ville-Marie (1941)
Notable award(s)	Governor General's Award

Edward Alan Sullivan (November 29, 1868 - August 6, 1947) was a Canadian poet, novelist, and author of short stories.

Life

Youth and education

Sullivan was born in St. George's Rectory, Montreal, the oldest son of Edward Sullivan and Frances Mary Renaud.

In 1869, his father became rector of Trinity Church, Chicago. The family lived to the city in 1871, and witnessed the Great Chicago Fire.

When Sullivan was 15, he began attending Loretto, a famous school for boys, in Musselburgh, Scotland.

On his return to Canada, he attended the School of Practical Science, Toronto.

Career

After his schooling Sullivan did railway exploration work in the West, and later worked in mining. He was assistant engineer in the Clergue enterprises at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for a year and a half, before the organization of the Consolidated Lake Superior Company. Subsequently he spent several years as a mining engineer in the Lake of the Woods district during the period of its gold exploitation.

He gained recognition in the United States through his poems, short stories and comprehensive articles on various themes. These frequently appeared in Harper's Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, and other leading American periodicals.

Writing

J.E. Weatherell, Maclean's: "The charm of his lucid and melodious verse has attracted wide and deep attention in Canada and the United States. A few of the titles are these: 'The Lover,' 'Respice,' 'To Sleep,' 'Suppliant,' 'When in the Speechless Night,' 'The Call,' and 'Came Those who Saw and Loved Her' which is perhaps the poet's greatest achievement. In this poem he has reached a magnificent level.... The apotheosis of honest toil is a golden thread running through much of Alan Sullivan's work. It is the dominant feature of his remarkable poem, 'The City'.... It is the same attitude towards brawn and sinew which we find in his prose sketches, 'The Pilots of the Night,' and 'The Essence of Man'.... He is always paying homage to the native and naked dignity of man."

Recognition

Sullivan won the Governor General's Award for English language fiction in 1941 for his novel Three Came to Ville Marie.

Publications

Poetry

• The White Canoe, and other verse. Toronto: J.E. Bryant, 1891.
• Venice, and other verse. 1893.

Play

• The Jade God: A mystery play in three acts (with William Edwin Barry). New York & London: Samuel French, 1930.

Novels

• Blantyre: Alien. London & Toronto: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1914.
• The Inner Door. Toronto: S.B. Gundy, 1917; New York: Century, 1917.
• Cariboo Road. Toronto: Nelson, [19--?]
• The Rapids. Toronto: Copp Clark, 1920; New York & London: D. Appleton, 1920; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1972.
• The Jade God. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1924; Toronto: F.D. Goodchild, 1925; New York: Century, 1925.
• The Days of their Youth. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1926; New York: Century, 1926.
• Under The Northern Lights. London & Toronto: Dent, 1926; New York: Dutton, 1928.
• John Frensham, K.C.. Toronto: Ryerson, 1926; New York: Dutton, 1928.
• The Verdict of the Sea. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1927; New York: Dutton, 1927.
• No Secrets Island. London: John Murray, 1928.
• The Splendid Silence. London: John Murray, 1929; New York: Dutton, 1929.
• A Little Way ahead. London: John Murray, 1929; New York: Dutton, 1930.
• The Story of One Ear. London: George Philip, 1929.
• Mr. Absalom. London: John Murray, 1930.
• The Magic Makers. London: John Murray, 1930.
• The Ironmaster. London: John Murray, 1931.
• Colonel Pluckett. London: Ward, Lock, 1932.
• The Great Divide: A romance of the Canadian Pacific Railway. London: Lovat, Dickson & Thompson, 1935; Toronto: Macmillan, 1935.
• With Love from Rachel. London: Sampson, Low, 1937; Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1938.
• The Fur Masters. London: John Murray, 1938; New York: Coward-McCann, 1947.
• Three Came to Ville Marie. Toronto & London: Oxford University Press, 1941; New York: Coward-McCann, 1943.
• "And from That Day". Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1944.
• Caribou Road. Toronto: Nelson, 1946.

as "Sinclair Murray"

• Human Clay. London: John Murray, 1926.
• In the Beginning. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1926; New York: Dutton, 1927.
• Whispering Lodge. Toronto: Ryerson, 1927; London: John Murray, 1927.
• Sands of Fortune. London: John Murray, 1927; Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1927; New York: Dutton, 1928; Chicago: White House, 1928.
• The Broken Marriage. London: John Murray, 1928; New York: Dutton, 1929.
• Double Lives. London: John Murray, 1929; Toronto: Macmillan, 1929.
• Queer Partners. London: John Murray, 1930; Toronto: Macmillan, 1930.
• The Golden Foundling. London: John Murray, 1931; Toronto: Macmillan, 1931.
• What Fools Men Are!. London: Sampson Low, 1933.
• The Obstinate Virgin. London: Sampson Low, 1934.
• The Money Spinners. London: Sampson Low, 1936.

Short fiction

• The Passing of Oul-i-but, and other tales. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1913.

Non-fiction

• I Believe That. Toronto: W. Tyrrell, 1912.
• The Power that Serves. Belleville, ON: Trenton Electric & Power, 1913.
• Aviation in Canada, 1917-1918. Toronto: Rous & Mann, 1919.
• John Melly of Ethiopia (with Kathleen Sullivan Nelson). London: Faber, 1937.

Juvenile

• Brother Eskimo (illustrated by George Avison). Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1921; New York: Century, 1921; London: Pitman, 1937.
• Brother Blackfoot (illustrated by W.M. Berger). New York: Century, 1927; London: Pitman, 1937.
• The Cycle of the North. London: Dent, 1938.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of Canadian poets
• Timeline of Canadian poetry

References

• Gordon D. McLeod. Essentially Canadian: The life and fiction of Alan Sullivan. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1982.

External links

Poems

• Alan Sullivan in Canadian Poets: 5 poems
• Alan Sullivan at PoemHunter (6 poems).

Prose

• 4 stories (with poems) from The Passing of Oul-i-but, and other tales, hosted by Mount Royal College

Books

• Under the Northern Lights, Project Gutenberg of Australia.