Seeking Her Story: The Life of Mrs. W.B. Yeatse

ANNE SADDLEMYER

(Professor Emerita of Drama and Master Emerita of Massey College at the University of Toronto)

One of Canada’s most distinguished humanities scholars and an expert on both Irish drama and Canadian theatre history, Ann Saddlemyer is Professor Emerita of Drama and Master Emerita of Massey College at the University of Toronto. She is the author or editor of seventeen books, the most recent of which, Becoming George: The Life of Mrs W. B. Yeats (Oxford UP, 2002), was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography. Born in Prince Albert, Sask., Ann Saddlemyer is an Officer of the Order of Canada and holds honorary degrees from seven Canadian universities.

In her lecture, Ann Saddlemyer told of the remarkable woman whose hidden collaboration with her husband led to much of his greatest poetry. Yet George Yeats’s life has remained until now an enigma, overshadowed by her famous husband despite the many roles she played as visionary helpmeet, manager, secretary, muse, wife and mother. Saddlemyer explored the reasons for this self-imposed silence, described the story behind her discovery of an extremely intelligent and creative woman, and related how she–who had known George Yeats as a young scholar– became her biographer.

What the reviewers said about Ann Saddlemyer’s Becoming George:

“Ann Saddlemyer has written a profound, exhaustive, and richly evocative life of this truly remarkable woman.” —John Banville, New York Review of Books

“This powerful and illuminating biography provides a feast for Yeats scholars.” —Carole Seymour-Jones, Literary Review

“[In her] wise, majestic biography, Ann Saddlemyer seems to see all and understand all; her book is a masterpiece, and extraordinary achievement.” —Kildare Dobbs, Globe and Mail

Date: 5 November 2003
Time: 7:30 pm
Place: Language Institute Theatre (LI 215), University of Regina