Set of rare books coming to U of A

Collection of GG's Literary Award books will be displayed in 2010

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Though he was born in the United States, John Meier can make greater claim to first contact with Canadian history than most home-grown Canucks. The now dual-citizen is considered a world authority on our nation’s most esteemed literary award: the Governor General’s Literary Award.

But Meier isn’t just an authority on the topic — after 10 years of searching, he’s also come only a breadth away from assembling the only known and complete anthology of first English language editions of the award winners. The assembly has been fuelled by tenacity, he claimed.

“I’ve been collecting since I was a kid,” he smiled. “I love the chase; that’s one of the best parts of it.”
The collection now consists of over 500 volumes, and in the process of collecting it, he’s also assembled a small mountain of signed editions, bound proofs, ephemeral material, and rare letters from which he’s currently writing a “full-blown descriptive bibliography.”

Luckily, such a priceless and nearly irreplaceable collection will not be catalogued and recorded solely for the purposes of Meier’s book. Starting next year, the collection will begin making its tour of the country, stopping at various postsecondary institutions.

The exhibit’s first stop will be at the University of Alberta on September 1, 2010 and will consist of a four-month display. Kicking off the event will be live readings from eight GG Award winning-authors. Meier has partnered with the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library and the Canadian Literature Centre, for the exhibit — both located on the U of A’s campus.

Meier’s search has been divided into two stages: the fiction category and the poetry category. He’s currently keeping busy pursuing the remainder of the poetry winners — the fiction winners aren’t going anywhere, piled securely in his living room, and keeping his friends and family firmly convinced of his biblio-mania.

But his passion also extends from the books themselves to the Canadian history in which they’re enshrouded. He recounted with enthusiasm how it was GG award winners who taught him about Canada’s immigrant experience and its other historical events.

“This is our oldest most prestigious literary award. It goes back to 1936. And contrary to popular belief, the Governor General didn’t start it,” he said.

“It was actually William Arthur Deacon, a literary critic and editor who was also involved in the Canadian Authors Association.”

Although he failed to make mention in the award’s moniker, Deacon has found recognition in the name of Meier’s own organization, the W.A. Deacon Literary Foundation, of which Meier is President.

Although not the literal beginning of his search, his personal favourite amongst the library is the award’s first recipient, Bertram Brooker, who won for his novel Think of the Earth. Each book has provided Meier with a unique look into not only their author’s lives, but the historic milieu within which they wrote.

Think of the Earth was his “holy grail,” and his quest brought him to Brooker’s family’s doorsteps.

“I had numerous people say you’re not going to try this book. I had to track down the family and after one year, I tracked down the author’s reading copy. You open it and it has his notes on the back end paper. He held it in his hands at the award ceremony in 1937.”