Philip Child | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Philip Child

Philip Albert Child, writer, academic (b at Hamilton, Ont 19 Jan 1898; d at Toronto 6 Feb 1978). Child's fiction and poetry reflect a period in Canadian literature when traditional forms and subjects were being affected by radical social and cultural change.

Child, Philip Albert

Philip Albert Child, writer, academic (b at Hamilton, Ont 19 Jan 1898; d at Toronto 6 Feb 1978). Child's fiction and poetry reflect a period in Canadian literature when traditional forms and subjects were being affected by radical social and cultural change. Novels such as The Village of Souls (1933) and God's Sparrows (1937) use near-contemporary and historic settings to depict heroes torn between opposing forces. A long poem, The Victorian House (1951), deals with the choice between refurbishing a tradition and discarding it. Chancellor's Professor of English Literature at Trinity College, Toronto, Child served as president of the CANADIAN AUTHORS ASSN in 1946. His novel Mr. Ames against Time (1949) won the Governor General's Award.