(hb of dj’d Ryerson, 1955; uncredited design)
(dj, Ryerson, 1958; design: Allan Harrison)
(softcover, Oxford U Press, 1972; cover painting by Philip Surrey)
(softcover, Oxford U Press, 1981; inscribed for Dorothy Livesay (contained signed message card below); uncredited illustrator)
(Inscribed softcover, Oxford U Press, 1986; cover design Robert Burns International)
(Response on index card of Waddington (M) to Dee (Dorothy Livesay) regarding a controversial book)
Miriam (nee Dworkin) Waddington (1917-2004) was born to Russian-Jewish parents living in the famed North End immigrant area of Winnipeg. Her first spoken language was Yiddish and she experienced many of the anti-Semitic conflicts of her day. Waddington eventually worked as social worker at the U of Pennsylvania, and later in Montreal and Toronto.
She taught at York U from 1964-1983. Her best poetry is about prairie childhood and love. Waddington also edited A.M. Klein’s Collected Poems. Her poem “Jacques Cartier in Toronto” struck a politically-correct note when it was published on the Canadian $20 bill in 2004. Unquestionably, she is one of our top 4 women poets of all time. I used her “Advice to the Young” in both eds. of Inside Poetry (Harcourt).