Evelyn Eaton
Encyclopedia
Evelyn Sybil Mary Eaton (22 December 1902 – 17 July 1983) was a Canadian novelist, short-story writer, poet and academic known for her early novels set in New France, and later writings which explored the spirituality of the western Amerindian peoples.
, Switzerland
, Eaton was the daughter of Canadian
s Daniel Isaac Vernon Eaton, an army officer from Nova Scotia
, and Myra Fitzrandolph of New Brunswick
. Eaton was the younger of two daughters. Her father was killed in 1917, while directing the artillery assault at the battle of Vimy Ridge in France
.
Educated at the Netherwood School in Rothesay, New Brunswick, Heathfield School in Ascot, England, and at the Sorbonne in Paris, Eaton rejected many of the social conventions of her time and class, giving birth out of wedlock to a daughter while at the Sorbonne. She wrote poetry from an early age, publishing the first, 'The Interpreter', in 1923. Two novels written in 1938 and 1939 received little notice, but in 1940, the publication of 'Quietly My Captain Waits', a novel set in Acadia
(now Nova Scotia
) in the early days of French settlement (New France
), brought her commercial success. She became an American citizen in 1945. A series of novels set in New France followed, as did a teaching appointment at Columbia University
from 1949–1951, a Visiting Lecturership at Sweet Briar College
, Virginia from 1951–1960, and a position as Writer in Residence with the Huntingdon Hartford Foundation in 1960 and 1962.
As described in 1974 autobiography, 'The Trees and Fields Went the Other Way' Eaton had always felt that she had some Native American or Amerindian heritage, and in the 1950s she began to explore Native American spirituality. A series of short stories published in the New Yorker
, four more novels, a volume of poetry, and a Ballet-oratorio would grow out of Eaton's continuing adoption of Native American spiritual practices.
In 1966, the Evelyn Sybil Mary Eaton Collection, a repository for her books, manuscripts, and personal papers, was established in the Mugar Memorial Library
at Boston University
.
Life account
Born in MontreuxMontreux
Montreux is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is located on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps and has a population, , of and nearly 90,000 in the agglomeration.- History :...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Eaton was the daughter of Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
s Daniel Isaac Vernon Eaton, an army officer from Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, and Myra Fitzrandolph of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. Eaton was the younger of two daughters. Her father was killed in 1917, while directing the artillery assault at the battle of Vimy Ridge in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Educated at the Netherwood School in Rothesay, New Brunswick, Heathfield School in Ascot, England, and at the Sorbonne in Paris, Eaton rejected many of the social conventions of her time and class, giving birth out of wedlock to a daughter while at the Sorbonne. She wrote poetry from an early age, publishing the first, 'The Interpreter', in 1923. Two novels written in 1938 and 1939 received little notice, but in 1940, the publication of 'Quietly My Captain Waits', a novel set in Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
(now Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
) in the early days of French settlement (New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
), brought her commercial success. She became an American citizen in 1945. A series of novels set in New France followed, as did a teaching appointment at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
from 1949–1951, a Visiting Lecturership at Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar College
Sweet Briar College is a liberal arts women's college in Sweet Briar, Virginia, about north of Lynchburg, Virginia. The school's Latin motto translates as: "She who has earned the rose may bear it."...
, Virginia from 1951–1960, and a position as Writer in Residence with the Huntingdon Hartford Foundation in 1960 and 1962.
As described in 1974 autobiography, 'The Trees and Fields Went the Other Way' Eaton had always felt that she had some Native American or Amerindian heritage, and in the 1950s she began to explore Native American spirituality. A series of short stories published in the New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, four more novels, a volume of poetry, and a Ballet-oratorio would grow out of Eaton's continuing adoption of Native American spiritual practices.
In 1966, the Evelyn Sybil Mary Eaton Collection, a repository for her books, manuscripts, and personal papers, was established in the Mugar Memorial Library
Mugar Memorial Library
The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University and Boston University Academy. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery business, provided the...
at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
Partial bibliography
- The Interpreter (1923)
- Hours of Isis (1928)
- Summer Dust (1938)
- Pray to the Earth (1938)
- Quietly My Captain Waits (1940)
- Restless are the Sails (1942)
- Birds before Dawn (1943)
- The Sea is So Wide (1943)
- In What Torn Ship (1945)
- Journey to a War (1946)
- The Heart in Pilgrimage (1946)
- Every Month was May (1946)
- The North Star is Nearer (1949)
- Give Me Your Golden Hand (1950)
- By Just Exchange (1952)
- Flight (1954)
- The Small Hour (1955)
- I Saw My Mortal Sight (1959)
- The King is a Witch (1965)
- The Progression a Ballet-oratorio (1967)
- Go ask the River (1969)
- Love is Recognition (1971)
- The Trees and Fields Went the Other Way (1974)
- Snowy Earth Comes Gliding (1974)
- I Send a Voice (1978)
- The Shaman and the Medicine Wheel (1982)
- Joy Before Night, the Last Years of Evelyn Eaton A biography of Evelyn Eaton, written by her daughter Terry Eaton (1988)