James Reaney has the distinction of being one of Canada's most talented writers and versatile men of letters. Having early in his career established a reputation as a gifted lyric poet, he has in later years made an equally important name for himself both as a powerful and innovative dramatist and as an outspoken commentator on the subjects of Canadian art and culture.

Reaney, whose frail appearance seems somewhat at odds with the vitality and sweep of his inner vision, was born on a farm in South Easthope, near Stratford, Ontario, on 1 September 1926, the son of James Nesbitt and Elizabeth Crerar Reaney. Though his mother's second marriage after the death of the elder James Reaney gave him a half brother and sister, Reaney effectively remained an only child during his formative years in Stratford.

He left his hometown in 1944 to pursue a B.A. (1948) and an M.A...