Dorothy Livesay Prezi

Documentary Long Form Poetry

Artistic Life

Contemporary Verse

“I always had the feeling I was struggling alone to make a woman's voice heard” (Right Hand, Left Hand 40)

Early Work

When she was just 15, Dorothy's mother found a stash of her poetry and submitted them to "The Vancouver Province" newspaper.

"I never showed my mother my poems. I hid them in a drawer, but she found them. I was furious." (Western University Interview)

"Green Pitcher," Livesay's first collection of poetry was

published in 1929, when Livesay was 19.

"Pink Ballad" by D.L.

Education and Employment

Enrolled at a private all girls school in Toronto, and graduated from Trinity College at University of Toronto with a BA in 1931 and received a social work diploma in 1934 from University of Toronto.

Also studied in Paris, and Sorbonne .

She decided to "make the most of it" when her father got her a job at the Winnipeg Tribune.

She also worked as a social worker where she found much inspiration for her work.

Relationship with the Communist Movement

Reception within the Proletariat Community

"The Depression just proved that everything was right that Marx had said; capitalism was collapsing" (Western University Interview)

"Such were the dichotomies I found in male-female relationships in the thirties. In theory, we were free and equal as comrades on the left. In practice, our right hand was tied tot the kitchen sink" (Right Hand, Left Hand 115)

Was her education problematic?

“My new poetry is approved not only by intellectuals of the (Leon) Edel ilk, but more important - by workers and communists. It’s only a small step forward, but there’s no going back” (Right Hand, Left Hand 59)

Reception by the

Canadian Community

"This is not propaganda, the speaker warned her hearers." Calgary Herald, April 17,1936 (RHLH. 220)

"It was to rally the middle class intellectuals and artists to the cause of the international working class against war and fascism." (RHLH. 219)

How did her work survive?

Awards and recognition

Governor General's Award

Queen's Canada Medal

Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

Office of the Order of Canada

The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize

Biography

Dorothy Livesay

Reception

Works Cited

Early Life

Beardsay, Douglas. "An Interview with Dorothy Livesay."

Western University, n.d. Web. 18 March 2013.

Crawley, Alan, ed. "Contemporary Verse: No. 1-20, 1941-47."

Irving, Dean Jay. “Editing Modernity: Women and the Little-

Magazine Cultures in Canada, 1916-1956. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008.

Livesay, Dorothy. "Journey with My Selves: A

Memoir" 1909-1963. Vancouver, BC.: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., 1991. Print.

Livesay, Dorothy. "Right Hand, Left Hand." Erin,

ON: Press Porcepic Ltd., 1977. Print.

Livesay, Dorothy. “Pink Ballad.” "Masses." Toronto, ON:

Progressive Arts Club., Dec., 1932. 1.7. Microfilm.

Stevens, Peter. "Dorothy Livesay: Patterns in a Poetic Life."

Toronto: ECS Press, 1992. Print.

Rifkind, Candida. "Comrades and Critics: Women, Literature,

and the Left in 1930s Canada." Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Print.

Kayla Dixon and Alysha Anderson