author
Charles Mair
1838–1927
A fiery early Canadian poet and journalist, this writer is remembered as much for public controversy as for verse. His life crossed literature, politics, and the turbulent history of western Canada in the years after Confederation.
2 Audiobooks
Through the Mackenzie Basin A Narrative of the Athabasca and Peace River Treaty Expedition of 1899
by Charles Mair
Tecumseh : a Drama
by Charles Mair
About the author
Born in Lanark, Upper Canada, in 1838, Charles Mair became known as a poet, journalist, and outspoken nationalist. He published Dreamland and Other Poems in 1868, often noted as the first book of poetry issued in post-Confederation Canada, and later wrote the verse drama Tecumseh, one of his best-known works.
Mair was deeply involved in public life as well as literature. He helped found the Canada First movement and took part in events surrounding the Red River Resistance, experiences that made him a controversial figure in Canadian history. Later, he worked in business and government and also wrote about western and northern Canada.
He died in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1927. Today, he is remembered as an energetic, complicated figure whose writing and political commitments reflect the ambitions and tensions of 19th-century Canada.