University Archives
& Special Collections

Nova Scotia Creative Writers Collection

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION & HISTORY | MAJOR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Nova Scotia has a long and distinguished literary tradition that reaches back almost 400 years and embraces hundreds of talented creative writers. It was the mystique of Nova Scotia's 'strange and fog bound shore' that first inspired the muse. While visiting Port Royal in 1606, Marc Lescarbot composed an epic poem and authored a masque, Le Theatre de Neptune. Thomas McCulloch could not resist writing about the unique personalities he lived among in Pictou. T.C. Haliburton felt compelled to expose the backwardness of the colonial government through humorous political satire. The stunning beauty of his native province was the inspiration for Joseph Howe's poetry. Each colonial writer had his or her own distinctive style. What was common to them all was a vitality and integrity that earned the respect of their readers and helped foster the next generation of Nova Scotia writers.

As Nova Scotia society evolved and matured after Confederation, the literature produced by Nova Scotia writers began to expand in scope and complexity. James DeMille, the energetic and multi-talented Professor of History and Rhetoric at Dalhousie for sixteen years, wrote historical and comic fiction for adults, adventure stories for children, and his highly regarded utopian fantasy, A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder (1888). Marshall Saunders wrote historical romances, but is best known for her sympathetic and vividly rendered animal stories. Poet, editor, and local historian Mary Jane Katzmann was the driving spirit behind the highly literate journal, The Provincial: or Halifax Monthly Magazine (1852-1853). The Valley marshlands inspired the poetic voices of Arthur Eaton, John Herbin, and the visiting Bliss Carman. Novelists Alice and Susan Jones, James Oxley, and William Fraser successfully wrote romantic and adventure tales for the popular market. By 1914, Nova Scotia writers had made major contributions to each literary genre.

Then came the Great War, the social turmoil of the 1920s, the Depression, and World War II. The harsh realities of life were impossible to ignore. Nova Scotia writing, while still reflecting a strong sense of place and a respect for the past, began to address the dramatic changes taking place in Nova Scotian society. Will R. Bird's vivid war stories, Thomas H. Raddall's penetrating novels about the social change brought by industrialization, Frank P. Day's unromaticized depiction of the fisherman's life, Ernest Buckler's poignant depiction of spiritual and creative isolation in a farming community, Charles Bruce's poetic look at the impact of war, and the mystic lyrics of Robert Norwood elevated Nova Scotia's writing to a higher level of literary achievement.

The establishment of dynamic literary small presses and literary journals in Nova Scotia and across Canada in the early 1970s provided Nova Scotia writers with new venues for their work. Perspectives and voices previously unpublished were presented for the first time. Black and First Nations writers have had their stories heard. Each literary genre has attracted new practitioners who have provided insights into the ever-evolving Nova Scotian experience. The energy and integrity that marked the work of Nova Scotia's early writers has been passed on to the current generation of Nova Scotia writers. To them falls the task of carrying on a rich and unique literary tradition.