author
Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald
1864–1922
A Canadian writer with a gift for both lyric poetry and lively storytelling, she wrote for adults and children while helping shape a remarkable literary family from New Brunswick. Her work ranges from poems and essays to short fiction and books for young readers.
1 Audiobook
Our Little Canadian Cousin
by Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald
About the author
Born in Westcock, New Brunswick, in 1864, Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald was a Canadian author of poetry, short stories, essays, and children's books. She was educated in Fredericton and came from a notably literary family: she was the sister of Charles G. D. Roberts and was also connected to other well-known Canadian writers through the Roberts and Bliss families.
Her writing appeared in magazines as well as in books, and she published work for different kinds of readers rather than staying in a single lane. That mix of lyric feeling, domestic observation, and storytelling helped her build a body of work that still interests readers of early Canadian literature.
MacDonald died in Ottawa in 1922. Today she is remembered as part of the generation that helped establish Canadian writing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and as an author whose career bridged poetry, prose, and children's literature.