David Solway Explained

David Solway (born 8 December 1941) is a Canadian poet, essayist, educational theorist, travel writer and literary critic.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Biography

Solway received a BA in English and Philosophy from McGill University in 1962, and a QMA in Philosophy in 1966.^[4] He has later received a MA in creative writing/English from Concordia University in 1988, a MA in education from Université de Sherbrooke in 1996, and a Ph.D summa cum laude from Lajos Kossuth University in 1998.^[5] He was formerly a teacher at Dawson College and John Abbott College in Montreal, and at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah,^[4] and has been a guest lecturer at several international universities.^[5] He has "won numerous awards and prizes for his work in both poetry and non-fiction,"^[4] including QSPELL Awards, Grand Prix du Livre de Montréal and A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry.^[5]

Solway is known for his work both as a poet, essayist and as a teacher, as well as for his polemical outspokenness, especially in opposition to Islam and in defense of Zionism.^[6] He has contributed political commentary to the conservative websites WorldNetDaily and PJ Media, and has been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement.^[7]

For inspiration, he invented a Greek poet named Andreas Karavis as a heteronym, whose work he published in apparent translation.^[5]

Bibliography

Poetry

• The Road to Arginos (1976)
• Twelve Sonnets (1978)
• Mephistopheles and the Astronaut (1979)
• Stones in Water (1983)
• Modern Marriage (1987)
• Bedrock (1993)
• Chess Pieces (1999)
• Saracen Island: The Poetry of Andreas Karavis (as Andreas Karavis; 2000)
• The Lover's Progress: Poems after William Hogarth (2001)
• Franklin's Passage (2003)
• The Pallikari Of Nesmine Rifat (as Nesmine Rifat; 2005)
• Reaching for Clear: The Poetry of Rhys Savarin (2007)
• Windsurfing (2008)

Essays and criticism

• Education Lost (1989)
• Random Walks
• Lying about the Wolf: Essays in Culture & Education (1997)
• The Turtle Hypodermic of Sickenpods: Liberal Studies in the Corporate Age (2000)
• An Andreas Karavis Companion (2000)
• Director's Cut (2003)
• The Big Lie: On Terror, Antisemitism, and Identity (2007)
• Hear, O Israel! (2009)
• Notes from a Derelict Culture (2019)
• Crossing the Jordan: On Judaism, Islam, and the West (2024)

Sources

• New, W. H., ed. The Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. p. 1058.
• Carmine Starnino, ed. David Solway, Essays on His Works (2001)

Notes and References

1. Web site: David Solway. Canadian Literature (journal). 16 May 2024. 0008-4360.
2. Behind the Façades of an Aesopian Duck: The Quest for Authenticity in the Literary Forgeries of David Solway. MaryAnne. Laurico. 1 September 2010. 35. 1. Studies in Canadian Literature. 1718-7850.
3. News: TDR Interview: David Solway . The Danforth Review. Shane. Neilson. Spring 2003.
4. Web site: David Solway: Biography. Canadian Poetry Online. University of Toronto. 26 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230626013916/https://canpoetry.library.utoronto.ca/solway/index.htm. 26 June 2023.
5. Encyclopedia: Solway, David 1941–. encyclopedia.com. 5 July 2023.
6. News: 'Crossing the Jordan': Deeply considered essays on Judaism, Islam, the West - review. Neville. Teller. The Jerusalem Post. 3 March 2024.
7. News: The Islamists' allies in the West. 23 November 2015. The Times of Israel.