Item 0005 - Correspondence with George Woodcock

Alan Crawley, best known as the editor of Contemporary Verse, was born in Coburg, Ontario in 1887. After attending St. John's College in Winnipeg, Crawley became a Barrister & Solicitor in 1912. As a lawyer in Winnipeg he developed an interest in poetry and after the war attended writers' gatherings, reciting and discussing poetry. After a serious illness in 1933, he lost his sight and moved to Victoria, with his wife, Jean, the following year. The first edition of Contemporary Verse, a literary magazine for Canadian writers, appeared in 1941 and continued, with Crawley at the helm until 1952. For thirty-nine issues the magazine, one of the few literary periodicals in Canada at the time, served as a showcase for the best Canadian poets. Crawley died in 1975 on Vancouver Island.