Ethel Wilson

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Born in South Africa and raised until age ten in Britain, Ethel Wilson is best known as one of the first regional Canadian writers to capture in intimate detail the beauty of British Columbia, Canada. Her short stories and novels were widely praised for her succinct and effective prose style, described by some critics as telegraphic. Despite her artistic achievements, Wilson was consistently modest in her claims about the value of her own work. Her scepticism concerning the value of national literature and creative writing classes produced some controversy in a time when the institution of Canadian literature struggled for articulation and recognition as a legitimate cultural form on both the national and international level.

Milestones

20 January 1888

Ethel Bryant (later EW ) was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, of Wesleyan Methodist missionary parents. She was their only surviving child.
Stouck, David. Ethel Wilson: A Critical Biography. University of Toronto Press.
3, 8

August 1954

Macmillan published EW 's novel Swamp Angel, her best known work.
Stouck, David. Ethel Wilson: A Critical Biography. University of Toronto Press.
192

22 December 1980

EW died in a Vancouver private hospital after kidney stone complications, one month before her ninety-third birthday.
Stouck, David. Ethel Wilson: A Critical Biography. University of Toronto Press.
283

Biography

Birth and Family

20 January 1888

Ethel Bryant (later EW ) was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, of Wesleyan Methodist missionary parents. She was their only surviving child.
Stouck, David. Ethel Wilson: A Critical Biography. University of Toronto Press.
3, 8

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