Miriam Waddington

Miriam Waddington (née Dworkin, 23 December 1917 – 3 March 2004) was a Canadian poet, short story writer and translator.

Miriam Waddington was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she studied English at the University of Toronto (B.A. 1939) and social work at the University of Pennsylvania (M.A.). She worked for many years as a social worker in Montreal. She later relocated to the then Toronto suburb of North York, where she worked for North York Family Services. In 1964, she joined the English department at York University. She retired in 1983.

Miriam Waddington was part of a Montreal circle that included F.R. Scott, Irving Layton and Louis Dudek.

She is a well known name in Canadian literary circles.

She died in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After her death, much of her own works and personal library were donated by her sons to the archives of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. The donation was a significant and appreciated endowment. Her archival fonds is held at Library and Archives Canada.

Miriam Waddington was awarded Borestone Mountain Awards for best poetry in 1963, 1966, and 1974.

Miriam Waddington received the J.J. Segal award in 1972. She was the Canada Council Exchange Poet to Wales in 1980, and served as writer-in-residence at the Windsor Public Library and at the University of Ottawa.

She received honorary doctorates from Lakehead University in 1975 and York University in 1985.

Her poem "Jacques Cartier in Toronto" is featured on the back of the Canadian $100 bill released in 2004.

(from Wikipedia)