‘Heroes’ — Chimczuk Museum exhibit highlights Windsor literary history

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Windsor’s long and rich literary history reads like a man of a well-known writer and publisher – Marshall McLuhan, Joyce Carol Oates, Wo Mitchell, Adele Wiseman, Alistair MacLemod, Marty Gervais.

Gervais met many well-known writers and poets who visited or resided in Windsor during their long career at Windsor, serving as journalist, poet, photographer, professor and publisher for Black Moss Press.

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“My idea is that in Windsor, we don’t always focus on our achievements,” Gwais said. “And we are always surprised at how people achieve success in Windsor.

“So, in my opinion, some people think that in terms of literary excellence, we only started a few years ago.”

To spread the word about the diverse literary history of Windsor, Gervais set out to organize and plan a public exhibition in the museum in the heart of Chimkuzuk, which includes stories and artifacts.

A snapshot of the literary history of Windsor is the title of the exhibition, which tracks the age of what Gwais calls the “Hero Gallery”.

“I call it the Hero Gallery because if you look down at our history, there’s a bunch of people I look at storytellers who tell Windsor’s story,” Gervais told The Star before Saturday’s exhibition was released.

“I want to consider many other writers in our history that heroes are.”

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Gervais recalls returning to the city of Windsor in 1968 to work with his mentor Eugene McNamara, a poet, novelist and teacher who founded a magazine called Windsor Review and asked for a poem by Gervais.

“I came here because there was a lively literary scene in Windsor in 1968,” he said. “It was Eugene McNamara, with (writer) Joyce Carol Oates, and (poet) Len Gasparini.

“But it seems to me that our literature began not only in 1968,” he said.

“It dates back to the 19th century, to the mid-1800s, when people were writing about this community, but I didn’t know that.”

The exhibition highlights some early writers in the region, such as ship traveler Anna Brownwell Jameson and abolitionist Mary Ann Shadd Cary, as well as famous literary celebrities from the 20th and 21st centuries.

“The person who inspired me the deepest part of the past was Raymond Knister’s name.

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“He is writing book reviews, but he also publishes his poems in the magazines of Hemingway in Paris and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

“And his poems are all about rural southwestern Ontario. He is from Kotam and he is writing about farms and farmland because he grew up on the farm.”

Writer and actor Christopher Lawrence Menard was among the guests who spoke at the release Saturday, praising Gervais’ commitment to the local literary community.

“This exhibition and this group of people show you’re doing a great job,” Maynard said. “Marty brings together publishers, writers, people whom he thinks he’s never done before or can’t do it – he tells them they can.

“He encourages people to look at what’s going on in life and figure out what they want to say. And anyone who is lucky enough to work with you know what they will see in this exhibition, and a lot of people wouldn’t have existed without your influence in this area.”

The exhibition also lists the rise of literary magazines and publishing companies in the city, some of which have won prominent awards such as the Governor’s Award, the Trillium Book Award and the Giller Award.

Snapshots of the literary history of Windsor area lasted until October 26.

jkotsis@postmedia.com

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