Halifax: A Literary Portrait

Eileen Goltz is Public Documents Librarian at Laurentian University.

Bell, who states that “Halifax is very much a writer’s city,” has
presented a portrait of that city through poetry, fiction, memoirs,
essays, and travelogues. This celebration of Halifax is more than a
paean of praise (and in fact, not every selection is complimentary): it
is designed to increase the reader’s understanding of the city’s
historical development and changing identity. The arrival of the
Loyalists, the 1917 explosion, the destruction of Africville, an 1847
ball at Government House, an ode to the Town Clock, and the 1919 return
of a troopship all assist the reader to appreciate Bell’s Halifax.

Most of the writers represented have either visited or lived in
Halifax, except for Israel Zangwill, who learned of the city from other
people. Richard Henry Dana Jr., Charles Dickens, and Rudyard Kipling,
all visited Halifax and published their impressions of the city. Bell
has included these, along with selections by Kenneth Leslie, Thomas H.
Raddall, and Hugh MacLennan, all of whom have lived in Halifax, and have
drawn on their understanding of the city in their writings.

Bell uses a chronological approach, beginning with the 1700 description
left by Sieur de Diиreville of the city’s future site, and ending
with a passage from Spider Robinson’s Mindkiller, set in 1994. De
Diиreville’s work combines prose and poetry; unfortunately several
lines toward the bottom of page 16 have been transposed. In between
these two selections, Bell has included material not readily available
elsewhere. Where possible, he uses complete stories and poems, and when
he presents excerpts, they are self-contained.

An appendix that suggests further reading on Halifax and the biographic
and bibliographic information that prefaces each selection are valuable
additions to the book. Bell’s wish that the reader’s perceptions of
Halifax be transformed and enriched by the representations will be
realized. This book will be a welcome and useful addition to any
library: public, private, or academic.