Andrew Suknaski fonds, 1942-

MSS 125, PC 137, TC 86

9.6 m of textual records

Poet and visual artist Andy Suknaski was born on a homestead near Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan 30 July 1942, to parents Julia (Karasinski) and Andrew Suknaski Sr. To develop his interest in visual arts, Suknaski studied at the Kootenay School of Art in Nelson, British Columbia, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ School of Art and Design, receiving a diploma of Fine Arts from the Kootenay School in 1967. He also attended the University of Victoria, Notre Dame University in Nelson, the University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University. For a time he worked as a migrant worker across Canada, including being a farmhand and a night watchman, traveled and wrote. He was editor for Anak Press and Deodar Shadow Press, among others. In 1969 in Vancouver he founded the underground magazine Elfin Plot and created concrete poems, exhibiting at the Expo in Buenos Aires in 1971. From 1977 to 1978 Suknaski was writer-in-residence at St. John’s College, University of Manitoba. Among his early works published in chapbooks, pamphlets and Al Purdy’s anthology Storm Warning (1971), was the notable On First Looking Down From Lions Gate Bridge (1976). Suknaski’s first collection was Wood Mountain Poems (1976), edited by Al Purdy, followed by The Ghosts Call You Poor (1978) and In The Name of Narid (1981). Ghosts won Suknaski the Canadian Authors Association Poetry Award in 1979. Octomi (1976) and East of Myloona (1979) were published as small chapbooks. Montage for an Interstellar Cry (1982) and Silk Trail (1985) were the first and third parts respectively of a larger work that was to be called “Celestial Mechanics.” Suknaski’s poems have appeared in such anthologies as Number One Northern (1977) and Studio One: Stories Made for Radio (1990). For a time Sukanski worked as a researcher for the National Film Board, contributing to such films as Grain Elevator (1981) by Charles Konowal and The Distinherited (1985) by Harvey Spak. Spak made a documentary of Suknaski in 1978 entitled “Wood Mountain Poems,” considered by Steven Scobie in The Land They Gave Away to be “the best critical statement we have on the poet’s life and work.” Suknaski’s Polish and Ukrainian heritage, his concern for First Nations and the people and place of Wood Mountain feature strongly in his realist poetry. Although poor health in more recent years has prevented Suknaski from writing, his work continues to be studied across Canada.

Acquired from Andrew Suknaski, 1989-1992

The collection consists primarily of his poetry and correspondence. The poetry is in original manuscript format showing multiple progressive versions. Bits of poetry and notes are found on the margins of newspaper articles and the back of cigarette packages. The correspondence is extensive, mainly with other poets and writers of the 1970s and 1980s. There are also many diaries from the 1970s forward and printed matter such as magazines, old journals, and newspaper articles. The collection also includes some 35 tape recordings of Suknaski and other poets and almost 200 books from his personal library

Additional acquisitions pending

Finding aids available:

Manuscript Collection: MSS 125

Photograph Collection: PC 137

Tape Collection: TC 86