A Magical Time
The Early Days of the Arts at Simon Fraser University
- Publisher
- Harbour Publishing Co. Ltd.
- Initial publish date
- Mar 2025
- Category
- General, Organizations & Institutions, Higher, Study & Teaching
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781998526062
- Publish Date
- Mar 2025
- List Price
- $38.95
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Description
Simon Fraser University went from an idea in 1963 to opening its doors in 1965, a feat that led it to be dubbed “the instant university.” This multi-authored history chronicles the excitement of that first radical decade of the arts at SFU.
The 1960s were famously a decade of cultural revolution, and Simon Fraser University was a creature of its time. The counter-culture spirit infected all levels of society, but none more than the new university and its innovative arts programming. Early SFU was shaped by a vision of a new kind of university where thought was free-flowing and lines between the disciplines were blurred. The open format attracted experimental artists such as the dramatist John Juliani and the composer R. Murray Schaffer, whose avant-garde performances did much to set a revolutionary tone. In this multi-authored book, writers associated with the university such as Max Wyman, Barry Truax, Ann Cowan and Francis Mansbridge capture the excitement of that first decade of the arts at SFU. Hildegard Westercamp, Carole Gerson and Christine Hearn describe the years of ferment from the viewpoint of former SFU students, and celebrated filmmaker Sandy Wilson contributes a moving piece written specifically for this book about the beginning of her career in film as a student at SFU. Richly illustrated with ephemera and photographs from the era, A Magical Time traces how innovation in the arts shaped events over the next six decades at SFU.
About the authors
Frances Atkinson's profile page
Tessa Perkins Deneault's profile page
Born in Montreal, Carole Gerson is a professor in the English Department at Simon Fraser University. Her research on Canadian literary and publishing history and on early Canadian women writers has resulted in many publications, including two books on Pauline Johnson. She was a member of the editorial team for the major three-volume project History of the Book in Canada, for which she co-edited volume 3, covering the period 1918–1980.
Christine Hearn's profile page
Francis Mansbridge’s interest in the history of the North Shore was stimulated by his dozen years as an archivist in North Vancouver. A love of outdoor recreation has led him to spend extensive time exploring the Hollyburn area. Prior to his archival work, Francis taught English at a number of colleges and universities, mostly at the College of the Rockies in Cranbrook. He holds a PhD in English from the University of Ottawa and has published extensively on both academic and popular subjects. His previous books include God’s Recording Angel, a biography of the Canadian poet Irving Layton, and Launching History: The Saga of Burrard Dry Dock. The latter book won the B.C. Lieutenant-Governor’s award for historical writing in 2002.
Francis Mansbridge's profile page
Hildegard Westerkamp's profile page
Max Wyman is one of Canada’s foremost cultural commentators. For more than three decades he wrote arts criticism and analysis for Vancouver newspapers and CBC radio. The Compassionate Imagination is his seventh book on the arts in Canada. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada, a former member of the board of the Canada Council for the Arts, and a former President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. He lives in Lions Bay, near Vancouver, BC.
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The Times and Texts of E. Pauline Johnson (Tekahionwake)
In Due Season
Canadian Women in Print, 1750–1918
Canadian Poetry from the Beginnings Through the First World War
Tilda Jane
History of the Book in Canada
Volume Three: 1918-1980
E. Pauline Johnson, Tekahionwake
Collected Poems and Selected Prose
Vancouver Short Stories
The Prose of Life
Sketches
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James K-M
Cave Paintings
Liz Magor
The Mouth and other storage facilities
Walter Tandy Murch
The Spirit of Things
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Works 1968 - 2003 From Collections on Hornby Island
The Insurance Man
Kafka in the Penal Colony
Robert Young
Lacunarian Picturing
Joan Balzar
Vancouver Orbital
Take Your Time
Marianna Schmidt
Denise Hawrysio
Situational Prints
