E. K. Brown

Edward Killoran Brown (August 15, 1905 – April 24, 1951), who wrote as E. K. Brown, was a Canadian professor and literary critic. He "influenced Canadian literature primarily through his award-winning book On Canadian Poetry," He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1926, winning the Governor-General's Medal for Modern Languages and a scholarship to the Sorbonne.

Brown taught at the University of Toronto from 1929 through 1941, except for two years chairing the University of Manitoba's English Department. He died in 1951 of cancer.

Prior to the appearance of On Canadian Poetry, Sir Charles G.D. Roberts was widely considered Canada's top poet (and certainly its top Confederation Poet), followed by his cousin, Bliss Carman. Not long before the volume came out, Brown had written to Duncan Campbell Scott that "our literary history must be rewritten and some old landmarks removed." In the book he removed several forthwith. Roberts received a mere four pages, and was praised mainly as a "breaker of trails". Carman received even less space; Brown saluted "the beauty of his music," but added that his poetry "as a whole is cloying." Of the other Confederation Poets, William Wilfred Campbell was cursorily dismissed as a "minor figure," while F.G. Scott and Pauline Johnson were not mentioned at all. In contrast, Brown devoted an entire chapter each to Lampman and D.C. Scott, building his own 'landmarks.'

Recognition Brown received a Governor General's Award for non-fiction in 1943 for On Canadian Poetry.

The Royal Society of Canada awarded E.K. Brown its Lorne Pierce Medal posthumously.

Publications

Non-fiction E.M. Forster and the contemplative novel. Toronto, 1934. Edith Wharton, étude critique. Paris: E. Droz, 1935. Studies in the Text of Matthew Arnold's Prose Works. Paris: P. André, 1935. Swinburne: a centennial estimate. Toronto: 1937. On Canadian Poetry. Toronto: Ryerson, 1943. Matthew Arnold: A Study in Conflict. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1948. Rhythm in the Novel. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1950. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 1978. Willa Cather: A Critical Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1953. Responses and Evaluations: Essays on Canada. David Staines ed. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart (New Canadian Library), 1977. The Poet and the Critic: A Literary Correspondence Between D.C. Scott and E.K. Brown. Robert L. McCougall ed. McGill-Queen's U P, 1983.

Translated Louis Cazamian, Carlyle. New York: Macmillan, 1932. Balzac, "Père Goriot". Père Goriot and Eugénie Grandet. New York: Modern Library, 1946.

Edited Matthew Arnold, Representative Essays. Toronto: Macmillan, 1936. Victorian Poetry.. Toronto: Nelson, 1942. Archibald Lampman, At the Long Sault and Other New Poems, Duncan Campbell Scott and E.K. Brown ed.. (Toronto: Ryerson, 1943). Matthew Arnold, Four Essays on Life and Letters. Harlan Davidson, 1947. Charles Dickens David Copperfield. 1950. Duncan Campbell Scott, Selected Poems, E.K. Brown. ed. Toronto: Ryerson, 1951.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Open Library.