Morley Callaghan
Submitted by: Carla Marieiro
Submitted to: Mr. Connors
Submitted on: Monday, January 19th, 2004
Morley Edward Callaghan was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1903, and
dies in 1990.
He was a novelist, short story writer, playwright, TV and
radio personality. Callaghan graduated from both the University of Toronto
and Osgoode Law School. In the same year that his first novel, Strange
Fugitive, was published, 1928, Callaghan was called to the bar; however his
passion for fiction was stronger than for law, therefore he never practices
law.Callaghan married Loretto Dee, with whom he had to sons.
Michael and
Barry, poet and author. Barry also wrote a memoir
Callaghan was surrounded by many renowned authors while he was
starting his career. He had taken a summer position at the Toronto Star,
where Ernest Hemingway was at that time employed. In April 1929 he along
with his wife, Hemingway, F.
Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce went to
Paris. While in Paris, Callaghan wrote a memoir which was The Summer in
Paris. Included in this memoir is the infamous boxing match between
Callaghan and Hemingway. The challenge was put for by Hemmingway say that
he was a better boxer.
When Callaghan knocked him to the ground,
Hemingway's ego and pride were knocked down as well. Callaghan began
writing stories that were well received and soon was recognized as one of
the best short story writers of his day.Callaghan published more than sixteen novels, and more than a hundred
short stories. He has one many awards, some of these awards are; the 1951
Governor General for The Loved and the Lost; Lorne Pierce Medal of the
Royal Society of Canada; the Molson Prize; The Royal Bank Award; and
invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada.
Callaghan stories are usually set in the modern city; his fiction
captures the drama of ordinary lives as people struggle against a
background of often hostile social forces. Stories by Callaghan deliver raw
sentiment effectively. He homes in on a turning point in someone's life,
most commonly the moment when a young person is suddenly made aware of how
the world really is. And he makes us see it too.
