This is a bibliographical research note for those with a specific interest in single author journals. You will know who you are and what they are. Even more specifically, it is for those who are wondering if there are any Canadian single author journals. The word “Canadian” will be employed in this context to attempt to answer two questions: 1) are there any single author journals devoted to Canadians?, and 2) are there Canadians who are, or were, producing single author journals about people who are not Canadian? The answer to both questions is “Yes." Those answers are not easily found, so this note will be useful for the very small number who are wondering what Canadian might be worthy of such a journal. It will also be of interest to the even smaller number who wonder what non-Canadian is important enough to rate such attention from someone here in Canada. It is very difficult to identify those individuals who have their very own periodical, unless you are willing to look up every single person you think might be important enough to have a journal, produced and printed over a period of time on their behalf. Identification of all of the single author journals was problematic before the Internet and remains so. Before the Internet, one very dedicated and diligent researcher rounded up all the single author journals she could find back in 1979. Over 1000 of them are listed and described in Margaret Patterson’s, Author Newsletter and Journals: An International Bibliography of Serial Publications Concerned With the Life and Works of Individual Authors. A few supplements were published by the author in Serials Review, but otherwise, there have been no other reference books about this subject. Her book is well-indexed and from one of them I provide below, all of the entries that are “Canadian.” There are only a few and some relate to journals that are about Canadians, and the others about journals produced by Canadians or in Canada. Two of them are still being published, but the authors who are the subjects of these single author journals are not Canadian. The Chesterton Review was started in Saskatchewan and continues on at Seton Hall in New Jersey. Hume Studies began at the University of Western Ontario and the Humeans are still very active down the road at Brock University and elsewhere. After the Internet one might have assumed that single author journals ceased to exist. It would seem to be far easier and less expensive to set up a website dedicated to the author, or publish an e-journal related to that individual. The two examples provided above indicate, however, that single author journals continue to exist, along with websites devoted to them. Finding them though is as difficult as it always was. Provided below are two lists. The first one contains all of the references related to Canada that are found in Patterson’s, Author Newsletter and Journals. The second provides the search results found when attempting to identify Canadian single author journals on the Internet.
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| Stephen Leacock |
1. CANADIAN SINGLE AUTHOR JOURNALS FOUND IN PATTERSON'S AUTHOR NEWSLETTERS AND JOURNALS Patterson’s book may not be readily available so I have included the information provided with each reference and the page number on which it is found in Author Newsletters and Journals.
1. Bakhtin, Mikhail (1895-1975)
Bakhtin Newsletter (Le Bulletin Bakhtine)
Editor: Clive Thomson, French Department, Queen’s University
“Designed to facilitate communication among scholars interested in Bakhtin. The first issue included an analytical bibliography and news of past publications, current projects and future conferences.”
This reference is the only one not found in Author Newsletters… This one is from the “Supplements” Patterson did in Serials Review. See this issue: Spring, 1984, p. 51.
This newsletter appears to have been published between 1983-1996. Additional information will be found at Queen’s. Western University has some issues in storage.
2. Chesterton, G.K. (1874 -1936)
The Chesterton Review
In 2025, The Chesterton Review is still being published by the G.K.Chesterton Institute For Faith & Culture at Seton Hall University. Information about it is available at this website: https://www.shu.edu/chesterton/chesterton-review.html
It is included on this list because it was established in 1974 in the English Department at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. The title was: Chesterton Review: The Journal of the Chesterton Society. Here is the information provided by Patterson, p.62.
Chesterton Review: The Journal of the Chesterton Society. Editor: Ian Boyd, Department of English, St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan, 1437 College Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7NOW6, Canada. Sponsor: The Chesterton Society. Fall/Winter 1974—. 2yr. $5(Canadians); $6(non-Canadians); $7(Institutions); $8(non-Canadian Institutions); £2 (Great Britain). [50-150p.] Circulation: 1,263, including 376 outside North America. Last issue examined: vol.4, 1978.
“Concerned with “the promotion of a critical interest in all aspects of the life and works of G.K. Chesterton.” Critical and biographical studies on sources, influences, comparisons, style; review articles; previously unpublished works; reprints of inaccessible early works; surveys of Chesterton’s popularity and influence in foreign lands; extensive news and comments concerning national and International Chesterton Society meetings and financial status, seminars in North American and foreign countries, work in progress, new publications; reminiscences; brief notes: letters to the editor; bibliographies; poems; International contributors; annual index. The Chesterton Society has branch secretaries in England, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Poland and the United States.”
Indexed by: America History and Life and Historical Abstracts.
Alternate subtitle: Newsletter of the G.K. Chesterton Society, Fall-Winter 1974.
P.62.
3. Choquette, Robert (1905 - 1991)
Cahiers Du Cercle Robert Choquette.
Sponsor and publisher: Collège de Saint-Laurent
1956-64 (nos.1-9). Irregular. [40-65 p.]
American-born Canadian poet, novelist, dramatist.
“Dedicated to Choquette, a graduate of the Collège de Saint-Laurent. Composed mainly of poems to Choquette’s honor, with a few essays and stories; brief introductions.” p.63
Choquette was also a diplomat. He was born in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Dantin, Louis - see Seers, Eugène below.
4.Hume, David (1711-76)
In 2025, Hume Studies is still being published and information about it is available at this website: https://www.humesociety.org/ojs/index.php/hs/index.
It is included on this list because it was established at the University of Western Ontario in 1975.
“Scottish philosopher, historian.”
Hume Studies. Editor: John W. Davis, Department of Philosophy, Talbot College, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A3K7, Canada. Sponsor: Faculty of Arts, University of Western Ontario, 1975—. 2/yr (April, November). $3.50 (individuals); $5.50 (institutions). [30-50 p.]. Last issue examined: vol.4, 1978.
“Devoted to historical and systematic research on David Hume. Long documented essays on Hume’s work; brief comments on his contemporaries, his influence, letters, manuscripts, and life; Hume bibliographies; notes and news on workshops of the Canadian Society of Eighteenth Studies and other research projects; notes on symposia, projected works; book reviews; announcements of books received. In English, French, German or Italian. Back issues available from Micromedia Limited, Box 34, Station 5, Toronto, Ontario, M5M4L6, Canada.
[Note: The information immediately above is outdated. Current information and back issues are available from the Hume Society at the website provided at the top of this entry.]
Indexed by: America: History and Life and Philosopher’s Index.
P.166.
5. Leacock, Stephen (1869-1944)
Newspacket. Sponsor: Stephen Leacock Associates. P.O. Box 854, Orillia, Ontario.
Spring 1970 –. Quarterly.
“Canadian humorist, political scientist."
P.192.
6. Seers, Eugène [Louis Dantin] (1865-1945)
Cahiers Louis Dantin.
Louis Dantin was the pen name of Eugène Seers. Canadian poet, critic.
Publisher: Editions du Bien public, Trois-Rivières, Québec.
1962- (?) Irregular. [60-160 p.] Last issue examined, no.4, 1967.
“Previously unpublished letters from Dantin to his son; personal reminiscences, genealogy of the Seers family, announcements of new editions, with notes and descriptions of Dantin’s works.”
P.278.
2. SELECTED RESULTS OF SEARCHES FOR CANADIAN SINGLE AUTHOR JOURNALS ON THE INTERNET
I know of no way to find such things. I simply chose some Canadian authors to search. I am not a Canadianist and the list will be deemed “idiosyncratic” by those looking for an author from a particular province, or one who wrote in a language other than English, or from a specific ‘identity’.
A cursory search was done and the result is the Baker’s dozen provided below. A few single author journals are found and you will locate examples quickly under the entries for Margaret Atwood and Lucy Maud Montgomery, from which one can, at least conclude that single author journals are not only for males. When there is no entry next to the name searched, that means that there was nothing much to notice beyond the basic reference sources and Wikipedia. In a few cases, I have provided some information which may be of use if you want to start your own single author journal about that person.
The Leonard Cohen Files
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