Miriam Mandel (1930‒1982) was born on 24 June in Rockglen, Saskatchewan. She completed her B.A. at the University of Saskatchewan before she and her husband, Eli Mandel, moved to Toronto. Here, she worked on a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. In 1957, she and her husband moved to Edmonton. Shortly after her marriage ended in 1967, Mandel began to write poetry, winning the Governor General’s Award for her first collection, Lions At Her Face (1973). Her works include this initial collection, Station 14 (1977), and Where Have You Been (1980). She also participated in the publication of a handbook entitled Herpes Handbook: A Guide For the Diagnosis and Management of Herpes Genitals (1981). Mandel had long suffered from depression, and she died in Edmonton by suicide on 13 February 1982. After her death, novelist Sheila Watson edited The Collected Poems of Miriam Mandel (1984). Mandel’s poetry is also published in various anthologies.

Sources:

“Canadian Literary and Art Archives - Miriam Mandel.” University of Calgary Library. March 2003, www.ucalgary.ca/lib-old/SpecColl/mandel.htm.

“Miriam Mandel.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_Mandel.

Works

Critical Studies