Canadian Writers and Their Works Cumulated Index: Poetry Series

R.G. Moyles is a professor of English at the University of Alberta and
co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities: British Views of
Canada, 1880-1914.

For 13 years, students of Canadian literature have been enlightened and
informed by an excellent series of books on 97 Canadian poets and prose
writers. From Frances Brooke and Robert Kroetsch to Isabella Valancy
Crawford and Joe Rosenblatt, we have been presented with critical
studies that are, for the most part, well researched, well documented,
and well written.

The two volumes reviewed here are cumulative indexes for Vol. I–X in
both the prose and poetry series. There is very little to say about them
except that, once it is acknowledged that such indexes are necessary (a
moot point), the editor has wisely chosen to offer a single index that
primarily lists all “proper names mentioned in the volumes, ... all
critics named or quoted ... and all titles of poems, stories or
articles, books, etc., that are discussed in the text[s].” What the
indexes do not include—an omission that limits their usefulness and
will therefore disappoint a great many users—are entries of key
critical terms or ideas.