Alden Albert Nowlan was a Canadian poet, novelist, and playwright.
10 Facts About Alden Nowlan
1.
2.
Alden Nowlan was born into rural poverty in Stanley, Nova Scotia, adjacent to Mosherville, and close to the small town of Windsor, Nova Scotia, along a stretch of dirt road that he would later refer to as Desolation Creek.
3.
Alden Nowlan's mother, Grace Reese, was only 14 years of age when Nowlan was born, and she soon left the family, leaving Alden and her younger daughter Harriet to the care of their paternal grandmother.
4.
The family discouraged education as a waste of time, and Nowlan left school after only four grades.
5.
At 19, Alden Nowlan's artfully embroidered resume landed him a job with Observer, a newspaper in Hartland, New Brunswick.
6.
Alden Nowlan became the night editor for the Saint John Telegraph Journal and continued to write poetry.
7.
Alden Nowlan remained in the position until his death on June 27,1983, after collapsing at his home with severe emphysema.
8.
Alden Nowlan was writer-in-residence at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton from 1968 until his death in 1983.
9.
Alden Nowlan is one of Canada's most popular 20th-century poets, and his appearance in the anthology Staying Alive has helped to spread his popularity beyond Canada.
10.
Alden Nowlan is buried in the Poets' Corner of the Forest Hill cemetery in Fredericton, New Brunswick.