Anisfield-Wolf Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 10 (1945) Winner
Gwethalyn Graham
グウェサリン・グラハム
Gwethalyn Graham
Aliases:
Gwethalyn Graham Erichsen-Brown
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1913-01-18 （Toronto, Ontario, Canada）
- Died
- 1965-11-25 age 52
- Nationality
- Canadian
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Toronto (birthplace) → Westmount, Montreal (resident)
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, playwright, activist, translator
- Active Years
- 1930-1965
- Influenced By
- Hugh MacLennan, F. R. Scott
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smith College | — | — | — | — | United States |
Smith College
Country:
United States
Did not graduate; left college after eloping
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1938 | Governor General's Award (English-language fiction) | Swiss Sonata | — | Governor General's Awards (Canada) | Winner |
| 1944 | Governor General's Award (English-language fiction) | Earth and High Heaven | — | Governor General's Awards (Canada) | Winner |
Governor General's Award (English-language fiction)
1938
Work:
Swiss Sonata
Organization:
Governor General's Awards (Canada)
Result:
Winner
Governor General's Award (English-language fiction)
1944
Work:
Earth and High Heaven
Organization:
Governor General's Awards (Canada)
Result:
Winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Swiss Sonata
1938 novelAn early novel and Graham's breakthrough work, published in 1938 and winner of the Governor General's Award.
personal growthcross-cultural understanding
Earth and High Heaven
1944 novelDepicts an interfaith romance between a Protestant woman from Montreal and a Jewish man from Northern Ontario, confronting anti-Semitism and French–English prejudice. It was the first Canadian book to reach number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.
critique of anti-Semitisminterfaith romancesocial prejudice
Adaptations
- [Film (not produced)] Earth and High Heaven (film option)
Dear Enemies
non-fictionA collection of correspondence with journalist Solange Chaput-Rolland about English–French relations in Canada. A planned sequel was cancelled due to the author's illness and death.
English–French relationspolitics and society
Bibliography
- Swiss Sonata (1938)
- Earth and High Heaven (1944)
- Dear Enemies (correspondence collection)
- Play 'Trouble at Weti'
Adaptations
- Earth and High Heaven had film rights optioned by Samuel Goldwyn but the film was never produced
Translations by Author
- Translated André Laurendeau's play 'Deux femmes terribles' into English ('Two Terrible Women')
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- realist styledirect engagement with social issues and prejudice
- Recurring Motifs
- interfaith tensionssocial prejudiceurban life and personal isolation
Health
-
brain tumour (undiagnosed)1965Her illness and death halted her creative work; a planned sequel to Dear Enemies was cancelled.
Legacy
Gwethalyn Graham is regarded as a Canadian writer who addressed social issues; Earth and High Heaven provoked discussion about anti-Semitism and English–French relations and became the first Canadian book to reach number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. She continues to be the subject of biographical study and reissues of her work.
In Popular Culture
- Subject of a 2008 biography by Barbara Meadowcroft ('Gwethalyn Graham: a Liberated Woman in a Conventional Age').
Trivia
- Earth and High Heaven was the first Canadian book to reach number one on the New York Times Best Seller list.
- Won the Governor General's Award (English-language fiction) twice (1938, 1944).
- Film rights to Earth and High Heaven were optioned by Samuel Goldwyn with plans for Katharine Hepburn to star, but the film was never made.