Margaret Laurence: Short Stories Margaret Laurence

Jean Margaret Laurence CC (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community.

Margaret Laurence was born Jean Margaret Wemyss on 18 July 1926 in Neepawa, Manitoba, the daughter of solicitor Robert Wemyss and Verna Jean Simpson. She was known as "Peggy" during her childhood.

Her mother died when she was four, after which a maternal aunt, Margaret Simpson, came to take care of the family. A year later Margaret Simpson married Robert Wemyss, and in 1933 they adopted a son, Robert. In 1935, when Laurence was nine, Robert Wemyss Sr. died of pneumonia. Laurence then moved into her maternal grandfather's home with her stepmother and brother. She lived in Neepawa until she was 18.[1]

In 1944, Laurence attended Winnipeg's United College, an arts and theology college associated with the University of Manitoba, that later became the University of Winnipeg.[2]

Before attending, she applied for academic scholarships that were granted based on her academic record and financial need.[3] During her first year at United College, Laurence studied in a liberal arts program which included courses in English, History, Ethics, and Psychology.

Another of Laurence's achievements during her first year of college was being welcomed into the English Club, an organization of senior students who discussed poetry, led by professor Arthur L. Phelps.[4]

This was her first time being around peers who were also passionate about literature, and it was an opportunity for her to expand her knowledge as both scholar and writer. "Tony's", a part-cafeteria, part-coffee shop in the basement of United College, was another important place for Laurence to share her literary interests with colleagues. She met with friends and discussed literature; those who were writers shared their works with the group.[4]

During this period Laurence became associated with the Christian socialist movement known as the Social Gospel, which remained important to her for the remainder of her life.

Laurence graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 1947.[4]

Laurence's first reporting job came while still in high-school, working for the Neepawa Press in the summer of 1943. Her English teacher, Mildred Musgrove, encouraged her writing and offered support and criticism.[5]

She continued to write in university, publishing poetry in the student newspaper, The Manitoban.[3] Her first submissions appeared under the pseudonym "Steve Lancaster." Later, she used "J. M. Wemyss." Both times, the pen name was meant to conceal her gender. Looking back in her memoir, Dance on the Earth, she regretted the choice, but connected it to the dismissive attitudes towards female writers of the time. [6]

During her undergraduate years, Laurence had at least 18 poems, three short stories, and a critical essay published.[3]

In her final year, she became an associate editor of Vox, United College's literary journal, and served as publicity president of the student council. By the end of her undergraduate years, she had published at least 18 poems, three short stories and a critical essay.[3]

Laurence married John Fergus ("Jack") Laurence, a civil engineer, on September 13, 1947, the year of her graduation. The couple lived in England before moving to British Somaliland in 1950, where Jack worked as an engineer. Their first child, Jocelyn, was born in England in 1952. Later that year, they moved to Accra in the Gold Coast (now Ghana). Their second child, David, was born there in 1955.[7] She returned to Canada with her family in 1957 and settled in Vancouver.[8]

The couple separated in five years later, in 1962. Laurence moved to England with the children while Jack went to Pakistan. In her memoir, Dance on the Earth, she recalls worrying about the effects on the children and how she would support herself as a single mother, though Jack did provide an allowance towards their care.[5] Their divorce was finalized in 1969.[9]

Following her graduation from United College, Laurence worked at a leftist weekly newspaper, The Westerner, and then at a new independent newspaper, the Winnipeg Citizen. In her reporting, she covered numerous social and political issues; she also wrote a radio column and reviewed books.[3]

Laurence developed an admiration for Africa and its various populations, which found expression in her writing. Laurence was so moved by the oral literature of Somalia that she began recording and translating poetry and folk tales, which would later be compiled into the work A Tree for Poverty: Somali Poetry and Prose (1954).[2] The two-year experience of witnessing attempts to drill wells in Somalia's desert, and observing the social lives of both ex-pats and Somalis, would later be documented in her 1963 memoir, The Prophet's Camel Bell.

She later became writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto. A few years later, she moved to Lakefield, Ontario. She also bought a cabin on the Otonabee River near Peterborough, Ontario, where she wrote The Diviners (1974) during the summers of 1971 to 1973.

In 1978, she was the subject of a National Film Board of Canada documentary, Margaret Laurence: First Lady of Manawaka.[10]

Laurence served as Chancellor of Trent University in Peterborough from 1981 to 1983.

One of Canada's most esteemed and beloved authors by the end of her literary career,[11] Laurence began writing short stories in her teenage years while in Neepawa. Her first published piece "The Land of Our Father" was submitted to a competition held by the Winnipeg Free Press.

This story contains the first appearance of the name "Manawaka" (a fictional Canadian town used in many of her later works).[12]

Shortly after her marriage, Margaret began to write more prolifically, as did her husband. Each published fiction in literary periodicals while living in Africa, but Margaret continued to write and expand her range. Her early novels were influenced by her experience as a minority in Africa. They show a strong sense of Christian symbolism and ethical concern for being a white person in a colonial state.

It was after her return to Canada that she wrote The Stone Angel (1964), the novel for which she is best known. Set in a fictional Manitoba small town named Manawaka, the story is narrated by 90-year-old Hagar Shipley, alternating between her present moments and recollections of her entire life. The novel was for a time required reading in many North American school systems and colleges.[13]

Laurence wrote four more works of fiction set in Manawaka. Laurence was published by the Canadian publishing company McClelland and Stewart, and she became one of the key figures in the emerging Canadian literature tradition.

Rachel, Rachel is a 1968 film directed by Paul Newman, based on Laurence's novel A Jest of God. The Stone Angel, a feature-length film based on Laurence's novel, written and directed by Kari Skogland and starring Ellen Burstyn, premiered in Fall 2007.

Her literary papers are housed in the Clara Thomas Archives at York University in Toronto and at McMaster University's William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections in Hamilton.[8]

Literary awards

• 1961: Beta Sigma Phi Award for the best first novel by a Canadian, for This Side Jordan.[5]
• 1961, 1962 and 1964: University of Western Ontario President's Medal for Canadian short stories.[9]
• 1966: Governor General's Award for English-language fiction for A Jest of God.[14]
• 1974: Governor General's Award for English-language fiction for The Diviners.[14]
• 1975: Molson Prize.[15]
• 1977: Periodical Distributors Award.[9]
• 1981: Canadian Booksellers Association Writer of the Year Award.[9]
• 1983: Banff Centre National Award.[16]

Fellowships

• 1967 and 1971: Senior fellowships from the Canada Council.[9]
• 1977: Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.[17]

National and community honours

• 1972: Appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada for her contribution to Canadian literature.[14]
• 1976: B'nai B'rith Woman of the Year Award.[9]
• 1978: City of Toronto Award of Merit.[9][18]
• 2014: Designated a National Historic Person. A commemorative plaque at her childhood home in Neepawa, Manitoba, recognizes her contributions to Canadian literature.[14]

Honorary degrees

Laurence received 14 honorary degrees from Canadian universities.[19] These included:

• 1972: University of Toronto.[20]
• 1974: Carleton University.[21]
• 1980: York University.[22]
• 1986: University of Manitoba.[18]

Book selections

• 2002: The Stone Angel selected for Canada Reads, with writer Leon Rooke advocating for the novel.[23]

Commemoration and legacy

• 1987: The University of Winnipeg established the Margaret Laurence Chair in Women's Studies, which later developed into the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies. The university also hosted a Margaret Laurence Chair Speakers Series.[24][25]
• The Writers' Trust of Canada honours Laurence through its annual Margaret Laurence Memorial Lecture series, in which Canadian authors discuss their lives and work.[26]
• The thirteenth and fourteenth floors of Bethune Residence at York University are named Margaret Laurence House.[27]
• Her childhood home in Neepawa is a museum devoted to her life and work.[14]

Novels

• This Side Jordan (1960)
• The Stone Angel (1964)
• A Jest of God (1966)
• The Fire-Dwellers (1969)
• The Diviners (1974)

Short story collections

• The Drummer of All the World (1956)
• The Tomorrow-Tamer (1963)
• A Bird in the House (1970)

Children's books

• Jason's Quest (1970)
• Six Darn Cows (1979)
• The Olden Days Coat (1980)
• The Christmas Birthday Story (1982)

Non-fiction

• A Tree for Poverty (1954) — anthology of Somali poetry and folk stories
• The Prophet's Camel Bell (1963) — non-fiction account of Laurence's life in British Somaliland
• Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists 1952-1966 (1968)
• Heart of a Stranger (1976) — essays
• Dance on the Earth: A Memoir (1989)

In 1986, Laurence was diagnosed with lung cancer late in the disease's development.[28] According to the James King biography, The Life of Margaret Laurence, the prognosis was grave, and as the cancer had spread to other organs, there was no treatment offered beyond palliative care.

Laurence decided the best course of action was to spare herself and her family further suffering. She died by suicide at her home at 8 Regent St., Lakefield, on January 5, 1987, by taking a drug overdose, documenting her decision in writing until the time of her death.

She was buried in her hometown in the Neepawa Cemetery, Neepawa, Manitoba.[28]

1. ↑ "Margaret Laurence". thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
2. 1 2 Staines, David (2001). Margaret Laurence: Critical Reflections. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. p. 2. ISBN 9780776604466.
3. 1 2 3 4 5 Xiques, Donez (2005). Margaret Laurence: The Making of a Writer. Toronto: Dundurn Press. pp. 135–149. ISBN 9781550025798.
4. 1 2 3 Powers, Lyall; Bumsted, J.M. (2005). Alien Heart: The Life and Work of Margaret Laurence. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press. p. 56. ISBN 9780887551758.
5. 1 2 3 "Biography of Margaret Laurence". Margaret Laurence Home. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
6. ↑ Garay, Kathleen (2020). "The "Great Game"; Archives and Canadian Literature in the 1960s and 1970s: Margaret Laurence and McMaster University's William Ready". Studies in Canadian Literature. 44 (2): 43–44. Retrieved 2026-11-09.
7. ↑ "Biography of Margaret Laurence". Margaret Laurence Home. Retrieved 2026-11-09.
8. 1 2 "Margaret Laurence". Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Laurence, Margaret 1926–1987". Concise Major 21st Century Writers. Gale. Retrieved 2026-11-01 – via Encyclopedia.com.
10. ↑ Alexander, Geoff (2013-12-27). Films You Saw in School: A Critical Review of 1,153 Classroom Educational Films (1958-1985) in 74 Subject Categories. McFarland. p. 222. ISBN 9780786472635.
11. ↑ Margaret Laurence: Canada's Divine Writer | CBC Archives
12. ↑ The Life of Margaret Laurence, James King. Alfred A. Knopf. 1997
13. ↑ Review – The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence – January Magazine
14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Margaret Laurence (1926-1987) National Historic Person". Parks Canada. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
15. ↑ "Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prizes" (PDF). Canada Council for the Arts. p. 10. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
16. ↑ "Margaret Laurence fonds". McMaster University Libraries. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
17. ↑ "Laurence, Margaret". Trent University Archives. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
18. 1 2 "Honorary Degree recipients (1976–1989)". University of Manitoba. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
19. ↑ "Margaret Laurence". University of Winnipeg. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
20. ↑ "List of Honorary Degree Recipients – Alphabetical Order". University of Toronto. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
21. ↑ "Honorary Degrees Awarded Since 1954". Carleton University. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
22. ↑ "Honorary Degree Recipients". York University. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
23. ↑ Moss, Laura (Autumn 2004). "Canada Reads" (PDF). Canadian Literature (182): 6. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
24. ↑ "2008–2009 Course Calendar" (PDF). University of Winnipeg. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
25. ↑ "Coming Events" (PDF). in edition. University of Winnipeg. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
26. ↑ "Margaret Laurence Lecture Series". Writers' Trust of Canada. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
27. ↑ "Bethune Residence". Bethune College. York University. Retrieved 2026-11-01.
28. 1 2 "Margaret Laurence Lecture Series | Writers' Trust of Canada". Writers' Trust of Canada. Archived from the original on 2025-07-09. Retrieved 2026-01-20.

• King, James. The Life of Margaret Laurence. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 1998. ISBN 0-676-97129-6.
• Powers, Lyall. Alien Heart: The Life and Work of Margaret Laurence. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-87013-714-X.
• New, W. H., ed. Margaret Laurence: the Writer and Her Critics (1977)
• Thomas, Clara. Margaret Laurence (1969)
• Thomas, Clara. The Manawaka World of Margaret Laurence (1975)
• Woodcock, George, ed. A Place To Stand On: Essays By and About Margaret Laurence (1983)
• Mujahid, Syed:Feminism in Margaret Laurence's 'The Stone Angel', Synthesis:Indian Journal of English Literature & Language, Vol. 2. No. 2pp. 95–101
• Gupta, Rashmi:Social Taboo of Patriarchal Society:A reading of Margaret Laurence's A Jest of God.Synthesis:Indian Journal of English Literature & Language, Vol. 2. No. 2 pp. 102–106
• Shiny, V.S.:Sundogs-A post-colonial Protest and Affirmation of the Native Canadian Consciousness.Synthesis:Indian Journal of English Literature & Language, Vol. 2. No. 2 pp. 102–107

• Margaret Laurence at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Biography (York University)
• Margaret Laurence archives at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries, Toronto, Ontario
• Archival description (McMaster University)
• CBC Digital Archives: Margaret Laurence: Canada's Divine Writer
• University of Winnipeg's Margaret Laurence Women's Studies Centre
• Margaret Laurence at IMDb
• Margaret Laurence Home, Neepawa
• Margaret Laurence: Critical Reflections Archived 2021-04-14 at the Wayback Machine from the University of Ottawa Press
• A film biography and interview