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Elizabeth Smart (Canadian author)
Elizabeth Smart (December 27, 1913 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian poet and novelist. Her best-known work is the novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept (1945), an extended prose poem inspired by her romance with the poet George Barker.
Smart was born to a prominent family in Ottawa, Ontario; her father, Russel Smart, was a lawyer, and the family had a summer house on Kingsmere Lake located next door to the future Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King. Her sister, Jane became a filmmaker, teacher and sculptor.
Smart attended the Ottawa Normal School in her formative years, but was soon transferred to the Elmwood School, a private prep school for girls located in an affluent Ottawa neighbourhood. She later attended Hatfield Hall in Cobourg, Ontario for secondary school. [page needed]
At the age of 11, Smart was confined to bed for a year due to a misdiagnosed "leaky heart valve". She began writing at an early age, publishing her first poem at the age of 10 and compiling a collection of poetry at 15. In her youth, she often kept regular journals, a habit she would keep up throughout most of her life.
Smart grew up among the social elite of Ottawa through her father's connections as a lawyer. Her mother often hosted parties for prominent politicians and civil servants. As a result, Smart socialized with many members of Ottawa's political class who were or would become important figures in Canadian history, including acquaintances such as Graham Spry, Charles Ritchie, Lester B. Pearson, and William Lyon Mackenzie King. [page needed]
At the age of 18, following graduation from secondary school, Smart traveled to England to study music at the University of London.
In 1937, Smart took a job as secretary to the noted Mrs. Alfred Watt, head of the Associated Country Women of the World, an international organization for rural women, travelling extensively throughout the world accompanying Watt to various conferences. It was during this time that Smart happened across a book of poetry by George Barker, immediately falling in love not only with the poetry, but with the man himself.
After her travels with Mrs. Watt, Smart returned to Ottawa, where she spent six months writing society notes for the women's page of The Ottawa Journal. At parties she would often ask about Barker, saying she wanted to meet and marry him. Soon Smart began a correspondence with the poet.
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Elizabeth Smart (Canadian author)
Elizabeth Smart (December 27, 1913 – March 4, 1986) was a Canadian poet and novelist. Her best-known work is the novel By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept (1945), an extended prose poem inspired by her romance with the poet George Barker.
Smart was born to a prominent family in Ottawa, Ontario; her father, Russel Smart, was a lawyer, and the family had a summer house on Kingsmere Lake located next door to the future Prime Minister of Canada, William Lyon Mackenzie King. Her sister, Jane became a filmmaker, teacher and sculptor.
Smart attended the Ottawa Normal School in her formative years, but was soon transferred to the Elmwood School, a private prep school for girls located in an affluent Ottawa neighbourhood. She later attended Hatfield Hall in Cobourg, Ontario for secondary school. [page needed]
At the age of 11, Smart was confined to bed for a year due to a misdiagnosed "leaky heart valve". She began writing at an early age, publishing her first poem at the age of 10 and compiling a collection of poetry at 15. In her youth, she often kept regular journals, a habit she would keep up throughout most of her life.
Smart grew up among the social elite of Ottawa through her father's connections as a lawyer. Her mother often hosted parties for prominent politicians and civil servants. As a result, Smart socialized with many members of Ottawa's political class who were or would become important figures in Canadian history, including acquaintances such as Graham Spry, Charles Ritchie, Lester B. Pearson, and William Lyon Mackenzie King. [page needed]
At the age of 18, following graduation from secondary school, Smart traveled to England to study music at the University of London.
In 1937, Smart took a job as secretary to the noted Mrs. Alfred Watt, head of the Associated Country Women of the World, an international organization for rural women, travelling extensively throughout the world accompanying Watt to various conferences. It was during this time that Smart happened across a book of poetry by George Barker, immediately falling in love not only with the poetry, but with the man himself.
After her travels with Mrs. Watt, Smart returned to Ottawa, where she spent six months writing society notes for the women's page of The Ottawa Journal. At parties she would often ask about Barker, saying she wanted to meet and marry him. Soon Smart began a correspondence with the poet.