Marian Engel’s Followers (67)

Marian Engel

Born

in Toronto, Canada

May 24, 1933

Died

February 16, 1985

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Canadian novelist, short-story and children's fiction writer, Marian Engel was a passionate activist for the national and international writer’s cause.

She was the first chair of the Writer’s Union of Canada (1973–74) and helped found the Public Lending Right Commission. From 1975-1977, she served on the City of Toronto Book Award Committee (an award she won in 1981 for Lunatic Villas) and the Canadian Book and Periodical Development Council.
In 1982 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

She married Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio producer Howard Engel in 1962 and, upon their return to Toronto from England in 1964, began to raise a family--twins William Lucas Passmore and Charlotte Helen Arabella--and to pursue a writi Canadian novelist, short-story and children's fiction writer, Marian Engel was a passionate activist for the national and international writer’s cause.

She was the first chair of the Writer’s Union of Canada (1973–74) and helped found the Public Lending Right Commission. From 1975-1977, she served on the City of Toronto Book Award Committee (an award she won in 1981 for Lunatic Villas) and the Canadian Book and Periodical Development Council.
In 1982 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

She married Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio producer Howard Engel in 1962 and, upon their return to Toronto from England in 1964, began to raise a family--twins William Lucas Passmore and Charlotte Helen Arabella--and to pursue a writing career. Marian and Howard separated in 1975 and divorced in 1977.

Engel was writer-in-residence at the University of Alberta (1977–1978) and at the University of Toronto (1980–1982).

Her first novel, No Clouds of Glory, was published in 1968. She wrote two children's books: Adventures of Moon Bay Towers (1974) and My name is not Odessa Yarker (1977). Her most famous and controversial novel was Bear(1976), a tale of erotic love between a librarian and a bear, for which she won the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction in 1976.

From 1965 to her death in 1985 she corresponded with literary peers and friends such as Hugh MacLennan, Robertson Davies, Dennis Lee, Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findley, Alice Munro, Margaret Laurence, Matt Cohen, Robert Weaver, Graeme Gibson and more. Some of this correspondence can be found in Dear Hugh, Dear Marian: The MacLennan-Engel Correspondence (1995) and Marian Engel: Life in Letters (2004).

After her death in 1985, the Writer's Development Trust of Canada instituted the Marian Engel Award, which was presented annually to a woman writer in mid-career. The Engel and Findley Awards are no longer awarded separately, but were combined into the new Writers’ Trust Notable Author Award as of 2008.

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Marian Engel’s books

Average rating: 3.42 · 9,228 ratings · 1,829 reviews · 20 distinct works • Similar authors

	Bear 3.42 avg rating — 9,012 ratings — published 1976 — 51 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Honeyman Festival 3.64 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 1970 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sarah Bastard's Notebook 3.41 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 1968 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Tattooed Woman 3.20 avg rating — 40 ratings — published 1985 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Glassy Sea 3.77 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 1978 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Joanne: The last days of a modern marriage liked it 3.00 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 1975 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	One Way Street 3.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1974 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Year of the Child 3.33 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Monodromos liked it 3.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1988 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Marian Engel: Life in Letters by Marian Engel, Kathleen Garay (Editor), Christl Verduyn (Editor) 2.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2004	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Marian Engel…

Quotes by Marian Engel (?)

“So this was her kingdom: an octagonal house, a roomful of books, and a bear.”
― Marian Engel, Bear

tags: bears

11 likes

“Remember that it is not enough to have everything around you beautiful, remember that there must also be change and flux, because it is through change that we pretend that we can make decisions, and keep our pride, and go on pretending that both change and choice exist.”
― Marian Engel, Sarah Bastard's Notebook

10 likes

“Bear," she cried. "I love you. Pull my head off.”
― Marian Engel, Bear

tags: 1976

8 likes

See all Marian Engel's quotes »

Polls

WHAT SHOULD OUR JUNE 2016 ALT BE? WRITE IN!

Here There Be Monsters - Meljean Brook (2011, 125 pages)

26 votes 16.4%

The Hob's Bargain - Patricia Briggs (2001, 288 pages) (write-in)

22 votes 13.8%

Haunted on Bourbon Street - Deanna Chase (2013, 262 pages)

21 votes 13.2%

Stardust - Neil Gaiman (2006, 250 pages) (write-in)

19 votes 11.9%

Mated to the Meerkat: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance - Lia Silver (2015, 86 pages)

16 votes 10.1%

Gentlemen Prefer Succubi - Jill Myles (2009, 329 pages)

16 votes 10.1%

Bear - Marian Engel (1976, 141 pages)

13 votes 8.2%

Dawn - Octavia E. Butler (1987, 290 pages)

13 votes 8.2%

Jinn and Juice - Nicole Peeler (2014, 384 pages)

8 votes 5.0%

Claimed - Evangeline Anderson (2011, 321 pages) (write-in)

3 votes 1.9%

Daughter of the Sword (write-in)

2 votes 1.3%

159 total votes

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Marian Engel’s Followers (67)

Marian Engel

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Combine Editions
Marian Engel’s books