author
Charles Heavysege
1816–1876
A self-taught poet and dramatist who moved from England to Montreal, he became one of the earliest notable literary voices in Canada. Best remembered for the verse drama Saul, he brought Shakespearean ambition and biblical scale to his writing.
1 Audiobook
The Advocate: A Novel
by Charles Heavysege
About the author
Born in England on May 2, 1816, Charles Heavysege left school young and largely educated himself through wide reading, especially Shakespeare and the Bible. He worked as a woodcarver before immigrating to Montreal in 1853, where he began building the literary reputation that would make him an important early figure in Canadian writing.
Heavysege is best known for Saul, the verse drama that won him his greatest acclaim. He also wrote poetry, novels, and other plays, and later worked in journalism in Montreal, including as a reporter for local newspapers.
He died in Montreal on July 14, 1876. Today he is remembered as one of the first serious poets and dramatists to publish in Canada, admired for the scale and intensity of his literary ambitions even when his style could be grand and highly rhetorical.