Fonds I0086 - Department of English fonds

The Department of English of Concordia University has its origins in the respective departments of English of the University’s two founding institutions: Loyola College and Sir George Williams University (SGWU). A formal Department of English was established at the beginning of the 1960s in the two institutions. The administration and faculty of both departments were joined together in 1977 in the wake of the Loyola College and Sir George Williams University merger in 1974.

Between 1966 and 1972 members of the Sir George Williams University (SGWU) Department of English hosted a series of poetry readings that was conceived as an on-going encounter between local (Montreal) poets and some writers from the United States and the rest of Canada. Sponsored by The Poetry Committee of the SGWU Faculty of Arts and the Department of English, these readings involved more than sixty poets from across North America. The series was the creation of three SGWU professors: Howard Fink and Stanton Hoffman from the Department of English and Roy Kiyooka from the Department of Fine Arts.