Mary Josephine Benson
Mary Josephine Benson | |
|---|---|
Benson as she appeared in the anthology Canadian Singers and Their Songs (1919) | |
| Born | March 20, 1887 |
| Died | August 31, 1965 (aged 78) |
| Occupation | Poet, journalist |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Notable works | My Pocket Beryl (1921) |
| Signature | |
Mary Josephine Benson (born Trotter; March 20, 1887 – August 31, 1965) was a Canadian poet and journalist.
Life
Benson was originally from Port Hope, Ontario.[1][2] She worked in journalism and advertising in Toronto in the 1910s, and returned to Port Hope following her marriage in 1915.[3]
A report on a reading she gave in 1931 described her voice as "charmingly musical".[4]
Writing
A 1922 review described her only published collection My Pocket Beryl as "real, personal and authentic poetry, of the present era".[5] Among the works collected in My Pocket Beryl is a prose poem about Christmas.[6]
In 1931, she received a $25 (equivalent to $479 in 2023) prize for her poem "The Bitter Lover", awarded "for the best short poem on any subject by a British subject residing in Canada". Andrew Macphail selected her poem as the winner.[7]
In addition to My Pocket Beryl, Benson published individual poems in newspapers and magazines including Maclean's and The Globe (now The Globe and Mail).[8][9]
Works
- Benson, Mary Josephine (1921). My Pocket Beryl. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.
- Benson, Mary Josephine (1997). For the Love of Words: The Collected Poems of Mary Josephine Benson. Abbeyfield Publishers. ISBN 0-9680045-3-9. OCLC 36693060.
Further reading
- "Benson, Mary Josephine Trotter". Canada's Early Women Writers. Simon Fraser University. May 18, 2018.
Notes
- ^ Lloyd, Karen (January 22, 2002). "Public invited to library dedication". Evening Guide. p. 2. ISSN 1184-5511. ProQuest 351632801.
- ^ "Prominent Women at Heliconian Tea". The Globe. June 24, 1931. p. 14. ISSN 0839-3680. ProQuest 1355128979.
- ^ "Benson, Mary Josephine Trotter". Canada's Early Women Writers. Simon Fraser University. May 18, 2018.
- ^ "Women's Organizations". The Globe. December 8, 1931. p. 14. ISSN 0839-3680. ProQuest 1355026496.
- ^ "A New Canadian Poetic Voice". The Canadian Bookman: 92. March 1922.
- ^ "Mary Josephine Benson of Toronto …". The Vancouver Daily Province. December 24, 1921. p. 17. ISSN 0839-329X. ProQuest 2368368111.
- ^ "Awards Made in Poetry Contest of Authors' Body". Montreal Gazette. Vol. 160, no. 108. May 6, 1931. p. 13. ISSN 0384-1294. ProQuest 2158704041.
- ^ Benson, Mary Josephine (August 13, 1929). "The Comforters". The Globe. p. 17. ISSN 0839-3680. ProQuest 1352175522.
- ^ Benson, Mary Josephine (March 1, 1919). "The City of Lost Laughter". Maclean's. 32 (3): 24. ISSN 0024-9262. ProQuest 1475346365.