Illuminating Al Purdy: The process of archival selection
Date
2024
Authors
Kim, Soren
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Publisher
University of Victoria
Abstract
In 2016, my supervising professor Dr. Nicholas Bradley travelled to Ontario to visit the home of late Canadian poet Al Purdy and access his fonds at the respective archives at Queen’s University and the University of Toronto. During this trip, he photographed hundreds of letters, manuscripts, worksheets, rare and inscribed books, and other archival documents belonging to the poet. I was tasked to select from among these photographs those which served notable biographical or scholarly function. I read a variety of Purdy’s poetry and prose as well as literary criticism in order to develop background knowledge on his life and poetics. I then annotated my selections and organised them into a WordPress website which will hopefully serve as grounds for future exploration of underrepresented works and epistolary relationships, and assist Dr. Bradley in his own ongoing research.
Description
Keywords
English, Al Purdy, poetry, archive, Canadian literature, 20th century