13 Facts About Eli Mandel

Eli Mandel was a Canadian poet, editor of many Canadian anthologies, and literary academic.

Eli Mandel was born Elias Wolf Mandel in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada to Russian Jewish parents who had emigrated from Ukraine, and grew up the Canadian prairies during the Great Depression.

Eli Mandel studied English at the University of Saskatchewan attaining a Master of Arts degree in 1950.

Eli Mandel received a PhD from the University of Toronto in 1957.

From 1953 to 1957, Eli Mandel taught at the Royal Military College Saint-Jean.

Eli Mandel taught Canadian studies at the University of Calgary.

Eli Mandel was married to his first wife, Miriam Mandel, for 18 years.

Eli Mandel's poetry was published in 1954 in Trio, an anthology of poems by Mandel, Gael Turnbull, and Phyllis Webb published by Raymond Souster's Contact Press.

Eli Mandel's works seem to have been deeply influenced by World War II, especially all the horrors of the Jewish concentration camps.

Eli Mandel's style was contemplative and intellectual - "an ironic poet, rather than an angry one".

Eli Mandel refuses to let pass what most people simply accept.

The compilation of Mandel's work, The Other Harmony: the Collected Poetry of Eli Mandel, is a two volume collection, with the first including Mandel's contributions to Trio, as well has his books Fuseli Poems, An Idiot Joy, Stony Plain, and others.

Eli Mandel won the 1968 Governor General's Award for An Idiot Joy.