author
Florence Randal Livesay
1874–1953
A Canadian writer, journalist, and translator, she helped bring Ukrainian poetry to English-language readers while building a varied career in newspapers, magazines, and books. Her work ranges from poems and fiction to literary criticism, reflecting a lively literary life shaped by both journalism and art.
1 Audiobook
Songs of Ukraina, with Ruthenian poems
by Florence Randal Livesay
About the author
Born in Compton, Quebec, on November 3, 1874, Florence Randal Livesay was educated at Compton Ladies' College and began working young after her father's death. She taught school, worked in journalism in both eastern and western Canada, and published poems and short fiction in magazines before establishing herself more broadly as a writer.
She became known not only for her own poetry and prose, but also for translating Ukrainian songs and poetry into English. Alongside journalism, she wrote fiction, literary criticism, and verse, and she was associated with the Canadian Women's Press Club. Her career shows a writer comfortable moving between popular journalism and literary work.
Livesay later settled in Ontario and remained an important figure in early Canadian letters. She died in Grimsby, Ontario, on July 28, 1953. She is also remembered as the mother of poet Dorothy Livesay, though her own writing career stands firmly on its own.