Louis Dudek

Louis Dudek, (February 6, 1918 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism. He was the author of over two dozen books. In A Digital History of Canadian Poetry, writer Heather Prycz said that "As a critic, teacher and theoretician, Dudek influenced the teaching of Canadian poetry in most [Canadian] schools and universities". He was lean and sickly as a child, which made him introverted and unusually sensitive. His mother died at 31, when he was eight.

Due to the family's financial limitations, Dudek dropped out of the High School of Montreal and went to work in a warehouse until, in 1936, his father was able to send him to college. He had one son with his wife Stephanie, Gregory Dudek, who also became a professor at McGill University.

1940s After graduating, Dudek briefly freelanced in journalism and advertising. He married Stephanie Zuperko on September 16, 1941, With John Sutherland, the magazine's editor, and poet Irving Layton, he "fought hard to foster a native tradition in poetry and establish new ways of writing in Canada, pioneering a direct style that articulated experience in plain language."

The Dudeks moved to New York City His doctoral dissertation, Literature and the Press, was published in 1960. His colleague Brian Trehearne remembered him as a "gifted and natural lecturer" who taught "one of the most popular and challenging courses in the history of the Faculty of Arts." Dudek also worked on the little magazine CIV/n ("Civilation"), founded in 1953 and edited by Aileen Collins.

In 1957 Dudek began Delta, his own poetry magazine, featuring "the work of many promising new poets" until 1966.

Later life At odds with literary trends in the early 1960s, Dudek concentrated on teaching and writing his long poem Atlantis (published in 1967).

He wrote a column on books, film and the arts for the Montreal Gazette between 1965 and 1969. "This activity together with his reviews, articles and radio talks has remained fundamental to Dudek's perception of the poet's and the critic's role in society." In return, the small press contained some of his strongest supporters (including Véhicule Press), who continued to release Dudek's books through his lifetime.

Discography Six Montreal Poets. New York: Folkways Records, 1957. Includes A.J.M. Smith, Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton, F.R. Scott, Louis Dudek, and A.M. Klein. The Green Beyond: Poems. Toronto: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1973. A Poetry Reading. Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 1982.