Frank Oliver Call | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | April 11, 1878 West Brome, Quebec |
| Died | September 7, 1956 (aged 78) Knowlton, Quebec |
| Occupation | poet, travel writer, professor |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Period | 1910s-1940s |
| Notable works | Acanthus and Wild Grape, Sonnets for Youth, Blue Homespun |
Frank Oliver Call (April 11, 1878 – September 7, 1956)[1] was a Canadian poet and academic.
Born in Brome Lake, Quebec,[2] Call was educated at Bishop's University in Paris and Marburg and at McGill University, and was subsequently a professor of languages at Bishop's and McGill.[2]
His publications as a poet included In a Belgian Garden (1916), Acanthus and Wild Grape (1920), Blue Homespun (1924) and Sonnets for Youth (1944).[2] Acanthus and Wild Grape, his most famous work, was divided in two sections: Acanthus followed more traditional Victorian poetic styles, while Wild Grape was written as free verse.[2] As a result of that work, Call is seen as a bridge between early Canadian poets such as Bliss Carman, Archibald Lampman and Duncan Campbell Scott, and the modernist work of later poets such as E. J. Pratt and Dorothy Livesay.[2] More recent analysis has also concentrated on homoerotic themes in some of his writing, particularly in Sonnets for Youth,[3] although there is not currently sufficient biographical evidence to confirm whether Call ever actually identified as gay.[3]
In addition to writing poetry, Call published two volumes of travel writing, The Spell of French Canada (1926) and The Spell of Acadia (1930),[2] and a biography of Marguerite Bourgeoys.
Call won the Quebec Literary Competition Award in 1924 for Blue Homespun.[2] In addition, he was involved in Canadian Poetry Magazine, the Canadian Authors Association and PEN Canada.[2]
He died at Knowlton, Quebec, in 1956.[2]
