accompany his poetry. These gatherings were actually workshops, and Cohen recalls that even an experienced poet like Scott was shaken by some of the candid reactions to his work. There was, Cohen recalls, a “savage integrity” to the Montreal group. Phyllis Webb recollects meeting Cohen in late 1955 when he was preparing to publish his first book with Dudek. Dudek brought him to Layton’s house, and she remembers her surprise at learning that this young poet was “voluntarily studying the Bible as an informal on-going project.” That evening, as usual, poems “got battered about,” but Cohen’s was “the most freshly lyrical and genuinely sensuous.” Arguments, insults, and praise characterized these meetings, and provided a sounding board for Cohen. The importance of
CIV/n
, said Dudek, was its role in stimulating a vital Montreal literary environment.
The emergence of the
CIV/n
group also confirmed the move of new poetry from Toronto to Montreal. Raymond Souster’s
Contact
, from which the Contact Press emerged, had ended, and the new
CIV/n
, in Montreal, had begun. In addition, the magazine solidified the union of Souster, Layton, and Dudek, which had begun with the publication of their co-authored project
Cerberus
(1952).
Canadian Poems, 1850–1952
, an anthology edited by Dudek and Layton, signaled a break from poetry shaped strictly by narrative, exhibiting a modern lyricism.
CIV/n
was more challenging than the other small magazines in Canada, such as
First Statement, Contact
, or later,
Delta
, and certainly fostered Cohen’s early work.
The best-known writer on the faculty at the time was the Governor General’s Award winner Hugh MacLennan, whose
Two Solitudes
had startled the country when it appeared in 1945. MacLennan joined McGill in 1951 to teach a course on the modern novel and to run anadvanced creative writing seminar. Cohen met MacLennan through Tony Graham, son of the novelist Gwethalyn Graham, who had achieved notoriety with her best-selling novel
Earth and High Heaven
(1944), about the love affair between a young Jewish lawyer and a Gentile from Westmount. While at McGill, MacLennan drafted what would become
The Watch that Ends the Night
(1957), also destined to win a Governor General’s Award.
The reading list of MacLennan’s novel course, which Cohen attended, included James Joyce’s
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
. This work had a powerful effect on Cohen, especially the impressionistic “bird girl” section where Stephen Dedalus poetically describes a young woman on the beach. It demonstrated to Cohen how lyrical prose could become within the novel form.
Enrollment in the advanced creative writing course required a submission of material, which Cohen presented and MacLennan approved. Cohen found that he liked MacLennan as a person as well as an instructor. “That’s where my life has been mostly,” Cohen has said. “I’ve only gone on these kinds of adventures where there was a personal relationship involved.” He remembers MacLennan as a beautiful teacher: “the more restrained he was, the more emotional was the atmosphere in the classroom.” For a time afterwards, they continued to exchange letters, and MacLennan expressed interest in Cohen’s developing career as a writer. When two of Cohen’s poems were published in the February 1954 issue of
Forge
, a student publication at McGill, MacLennan provided an introduction.
F.R. Scott was another influential figure at McGill. An eminent constitutional historian, he was also a noted poet who was able to straddle both the earlier generation of
The McGill Fortnightly Review
and
Preview
, as well as the new efforts of the innovative
CIV/n
. Cohen studied commercial law with him and briefly entered law school, admiring the apparent ease with which Scott could balance poetry and the law. Scott encouraged Cohen’s literary efforts and Cohen recalled that visits to the Scotts’ were “warm and wonderful [with] a very
CIV/n
, said Dudek, was its role in stimulating a vital Montreal literary environment.
The emergence of the
CIV/n
group also confirmed the move of new poetry from Toronto to Montreal. Raymond Souster’s
Contact
, from which the Contact Press emerged, had ended, and the new
CIV/n
, in Montreal, had begun. In addition, the magazine solidified the union of Souster, Layton, and Dudek, which had begun with the publication of their co-authored project
Cerberus
(1952).
Canadian Poems, 1850–1952
, an anthology edited by Dudek and Layton, signaled a break from poetry shaped strictly by narrative, exhibiting a modern lyricism.
CIV/n
was more challenging than the other small magazines in Canada, such as
First Statement, Contact
, or later,
Delta
, and certainly fostered Cohen’s early work.
The best-known writer on the faculty at the time was the Governor General’s Award winner Hugh MacLennan, whose
Two Solitudes
had startled the country when it appeared in 1945. MacLennan joined McGill in 1951 to teach a course on the modern novel and to run anadvanced creative writing seminar. Cohen met MacLennan through Tony Graham, son of the novelist Gwethalyn Graham, who had achieved notoriety with her best-selling novel
Earth and High Heaven
(1944), about the love affair between a young Jewish lawyer and a Gentile from Westmount. While at McGill, MacLennan drafted what would become
The Watch that Ends the Night
(1957), also destined to win a Governor General’s Award.
The reading list of MacLennan’s novel course, which Cohen attended, included James Joyce’s
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
. This work had a powerful effect on Cohen, especially the impressionistic “bird girl” section where Stephen Dedalus poetically describes a young woman on the beach. It demonstrated to Cohen how lyrical prose could become within the novel form.
Enrollment in the advanced creative writing course required a submission of material, which Cohen presented and MacLennan approved. Cohen found that he liked MacLennan as a person as well as an instructor. “That’s where my life has been mostly,” Cohen has said. “I’ve only gone on these kinds of adventures where there was a personal relationship involved.” He remembers MacLennan as a beautiful teacher: “the more restrained he was, the more emotional was the atmosphere in the classroom.” For a time afterwards, they continued to exchange letters, and MacLennan expressed interest in Cohen’s developing career as a writer. When two of Cohen’s poems were published in the February 1954 issue of
Forge
, a student publication at McGill, MacLennan provided an introduction.
F.R. Scott was another influential figure at McGill. An eminent constitutional historian, he was also a noted poet who was able to straddle both the earlier generation of
The McGill Fortnightly Review
and
Preview
, as well as the new efforts of the innovative
CIV/n
. Cohen studied commercial law with him and briefly entered law school, admiring the apparent ease with which Scott could balance poetry and the law. Scott encouraged Cohen’s literary efforts and Cohen recalled that visits to the Scotts’ were “warm and wonderful [with] a very
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