Who Was Doris Hedges? : The Search for Canada’s First Literary Agent

Doris Hedges (1896-1972) was a Montreal author and poet who started Canada’s first literary agency in 1946. The author notes that despite her pioneering efforts to represent the work of Canadian writers to publishers in North America and abroad, Hedges is routinely excluded from Canadian literary histories. This is all the more surprising, the author explains, given the fact that Hedges published several novels, short stories, and books of poetry; was influential in Montreal literary circles; did a stint as a radio broadcaster; and provided reports to the Wartime Information Board during World War II, possibly as an American spy. The author reconstructs Hedges’ life and career, from her birth into the wealthy Dawes family in Lachine to her life as a permanent resident of Montreal's Ritz-Carlton Hotel. He describes Hedges as a courageous figure who was exploring many of the conflicted issues of her day: the rise of juvenile delinquency, the suppression of female sexuality, the place of women in business and finance, and the difficulties confronting the publishing industry in the years leading up to and following the war.

Montreal

McGill-Queen's University Press

2020

288p.

en

978-0-228-00369-4