Patrick Anderson (poet)

Patrick Anderson (1915-1979) was a British-Canadian poet, teacher, and literary critic. Born in Ashford, Kent, England, he was educated at Stowe School and Magdalen College, Oxford. At Oxford, he associated with W. H. Auden and other prominent literary figures of the 1930s.

Anderson immigrated to Canada in 1940 and taught at various universities, including McGill University in Montreal. He became a significant figure in the development of Canadian poetry, influencing a generation of writers with his modernist style and engagement with social and political issues.

His early poetry, published in the 1940s, often reflected the anxieties and upheavals of the war years. Later work showed a greater interest in personal experience and the natural world. Anderson's writing is known for its intellectual rigor, emotional intensity, and formal experimentation.

Notable works include:

• A Tent for April (1945)
• The White Centre (1946)
• The Colour as Naked (1953)
• Snake Wine (1955)
• Home and Away (1960)
• The Living Die (1941) (with others)
• Over the Alps (1949) (with Anne Marriott)

Anderson also wrote literary criticism and travel books. He returned to England in the 1970s and died in Vancouver, British Columbia. His contribution to Canadian literature is acknowledged through critical studies and continued recognition of his poetic achievements.