Jean “Jay” Macpherson was a Canadian poet and 18th-century scholar, and a winner of the 1958 Governor General’s Award for Poetry for

The Boatman,

as well as

Poetry

’s Levinson Prize and the E.J. Pratt Medal. Born in England, she immigrated to Canada in 1940, and became a professor at the University of Toronto from 1957 to 1996. Her work was influenced by William Blake and T.S. Eliot and by her lifelong devotion to verse forms. Macpherson died in Toronto, Ontario, in 2012. The Dupont Parkette at Avenue Road was re-named Jay Macpherson Green in her honour in 2015.

Born in London, England, on 13 June 1931 to James Ewan Macpherson and Dorothy Macpherson, Jean “Jay” Macpherson was raised in the Hampstead area and came to Canada with her mother and elder brother, Andrew, in 1940 as a

2836 words

Citation: MacDonald, Tanis. "Jay MacPherson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 December 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5258, accessed 25 April 2024.]

5258 Jay MacPherson 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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