The Michael Cook Papers: First Accession and Second Accession

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

Michael Cook, a disillusioned Englishman and minor dramatist who claimed
to have found his true identity as a Newfoundlander, made a national
reputation as a playwright in that province between 1971 and 1978. His
Colour the Flesh the Colour of Dust and The Head, Guts and Sound Bone
Dance conned a lot of Canadians into believing that his was the
“true” voice of the Newfoundlander; and, notwithstanding the fact
that Newfoundlanders knew better, Cook was accorded an acclaim far
beyond what his plays deserved. It is somewhat puzzling, therefore, that
the University of Calgary should have wanted the Michael Cook papers as
part of its Canadian archival collection.

Be that as it may, The Cook Papers is excellent in every way. Malcolm
Page’s “Biocritical Essay,” though wrongheaded in some ways, is
lucid and thought-provoking; the “Archival Introduction” sets out,
with clarity, both the rationale and the methodology; the “Archival
Inventory” is comprehensive, completely accessible, and sensibly
classified; and, finally, an abundance of illustrations (photos and
holographs) adds a touch of humanity to the whole—making it, by my
standards, a thoroughly practical and extremely valuable document.