Michael O. Nowlan

1937-2021

Michael O'Keeffe Nowlan (teacher, poet, editor, columnist, and reviewer) was born in Chatham, New Brunswick on 1 September 1937. He graduated from St. Thomas College (HS, 1955) and St. Thomas University (BA, 1959). He entereed the teaching profession in 1961 and spending most of his career at Oromocto High School (1964-1988). He received education degrees from UNB in 1964 (BEd) and 1986 (MEd). He won many awards for his teaching including the Merron Chorny Award for Lifetime Achievement for the teaching of English in Canada. In 1988, he was seconded to the New Brunswick Department of Education as a Consultant for English Language Arts, and then served as assistant director in the Curriculum Development Branch from 1989 until his retirement in 1994. He was a founding member of the Writers in Schools Project and the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick.  He has edited for publication no less than fourteen collections, including the collection Stubborn Strength: A New Brunswick Anthology. He has published two children’s books, six books of poetry, and two collections of stories. He is a literary reviewer in the pages of many Canadian newspapers and journals. For fifteen years he was the books columnist for The Atlantic Advocate, and in 2010 he celebrated thirty-five years as the “reviewer emeritus” for The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton). In 2010, St. Thomas University conferred an honorary doctorate on him. Nowlan died in Fredericton on 17 February 2021.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Oromocto, Fredericton, Chatham

Archival Material

• Michael O. Nowlan fonds
  ⌄
  Location

  University of New Brunswick Archives & Special Collections

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  MG L 34

  Date Range of Material

  1966-1992

  Extent

  1.8 m textual records
  ca. 20 photographs

  Scope and Content Note

  This fonds documents the writing career of Michael O. Nowlan, as well as much of his work as a teacher of English and advocate of Canadian literature. The fonds consists largely of correspondence to and from Nowlan, and drafts and notes for articles and books. Also included are committee minutes, newspaper clippings, and a few photographs. Despite the existence of separate "Correspondence" files, almost every file in the fonds contains correspondence, usually associated with the material in the file.