Stephen Gill and His Works

Barry J. Edwards was a librarian with the Metro Toronto Library.

In 1978 I reviewed in these pages a tiny booklet by Stephen Gill entitled English Grammar for Beginners. I could not, however, recommend it to students of English as a second language since the author’s curiously inadequate command of the finer points of grammar and an idiosyncratic writing style considerably diminished its potential value as a textbook. Five years later, this same author is the subject of a large-scale publication grandiosely titled Stephen Gill and His Works: An Evaluation and written by one George Hines, MA., Ph.D. (English Lit.)

Stephen Gill, a Canadian writer of Punjabi extraction, has established a reputation as the prolific author of poetry, short stories, novels, literary criticism on H.G. Wells, Shaw, and Yeats, and miscellaneous other works on such diverse topics as Bangladesh and world federalism. The author of this critical study of Gill’s varied output provides as well a brief sketch of his career both before and after his arrival in Canada in 1965. One of the high-points of his life here was the founding in 1974 of his own publishing house, Vesta Publications, which issues not only his own books but the work of new and undiscovered Canadian writers as well.

Gill is wholly committed to his work, for “writing is innate with him — it is something he was born with. His desire to share his experience with others is the motivating force behind his writing.” His thoughts on the future of mankind, his quest for world peace, and his firm commitment to programmes promoting justice, tolerance, brotherhood, and disarmament are reflected in his work. Unfortunately, much of Gill’s actual writing is marred by his peculiar style of English, which consists of sentences serpentine in length, a colourful though not always accurate vocabulary, and lopsided syntax. In addition, this book is badly edited and bristles with typographical errors and the inconsistent application of American vs. Canadian spelling. Gill’s tortured style, in combination with some of the bizarre plots, makes this book heavy going. Since I cannot believe that George Hines has the same stilted approach to written English as Gill himself, it seems likely that the latter has written the lengthy summaries of his books and Hines has merely supplied the brief introductions and conclusions.

In short, this study can be used only with great care. Yet, if it encourages the reader to experience the work of Stephen Gill at first hand, it will have served its purpose well.