Percy Janes

Percy Maxwell Janes (March 12, 1922 – February 19, 1999) was a Newfoundland-born Canadian writer and novelist, known primarily for his 1970 novel House of Hate. His work often deals with life in Newfoundland, mainly from his own first-hand experience.

Biography Janes was born in St. John's, Newfoundland, the son of Eli Janes and Lillian Berkshire. The family moved to Corner Brook when he was seven years old. He attended school in Corner Brook until 1938, when he received a scholarship to attend Memorial University College in St. John's. While studying there, he became associate editor of the college's yearbook, The Cap and Gown. He published the poem "To Robert Burns" and the short skit "All's Fair in Fun and College" in its 1940 edition.

After graduating, he moved to Canada and spent four years in the Canadian Navy until 1945. He then enrolled in Victoria College at the University of Toronto, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1948, having won the Lincoln Hutton Scholarship for best English essay in 1946. He published four more poems between 1947 and 1950. House of Hate had taken several years to write and numerous failed attempts at getting published, before Toronto publisher McClelland and Stewart published it in 1970. It was later included in the New Canadian Library series in 1976 with an introduction by Margaret Laurence.