Barbara Rooke
Barbara Elizabeth Rooke was a Canadian scholar of English literature, a specialist in the works of Coleridge. A professor of English at the Trent University in Canada, she won the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay Prize in 1970.
Life[edit]
Rooke attended the Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, graduating with honours in 1940 and winning the Wilhelmina Gordon Foundation scholarship for English.[1] Following her master's degree the following year, she was in the Women's Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force until the end of the Second World War.[2] She was an assistant section officer based in Mossbank, Saskatchewan in charge of new recruits.[3]
Rooke obtained a Royal Society of Canada Fellowship to study abroad in 1948–1949.[4] She obtained a doctorate from the University of London.[5]
In 1948, Rooke and Kathleen Coburn undertook a research trip to Scotland, following Coleridge and Wordsworth's 1803 journey. Coburn related how their ration cards were often not accepted to obtain eggs and meat.[6] Rooke's doctoral research was on Coleridge, which she continued in her later academic life. This led to the two-volume edition of The Friend that she published in 1969 as part of the Bollingen series of Coleridge's collected works (edited by Kathleen Coburn),[7] for which she won the Rose Mary Crawshay Prize.[8] The work was lauded for its beauty and lucidity.[9]
In 1951, Rooke was a member of the department of English at the Victoria College, University of Toronto.[10] She was a lecturer of English at the University College of the West Indies in Jamaica.[5] Between 1967 and 1979, she was a professor of English literature at Trent University in Canada.[11]
Recognition[edit]
A Barbara Rooke Fellowship for post-doctoral research was established by Trent University, allowing scholars to study the English Romantic period.[12] The Rooke Memorial Lectures are held annually since 1998 at the Trent University to honour Barbara Rooke.[13] The Barbara Rooke Travel Prize has been offered since 2013 to a high-achieving graduate of the university's English department to travel to a significant literary heritage site.[14]
References[edit]
- ^ "Scholarships Won by Women in Queen's University in 1940". Alumnae News. XXIV: 80. 1940. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "Letter from London: Barbara Rooke". Queen's Review: 100. 1948. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ Kritzweiser, Kay (June 1, 1942). "Women Find Place in War at Mossbank Air Station". The Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "Royal Society of Canada Fellowships". Calendar of the Faculty of Arts, 1948-49: 86. 1948. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ a b "Notes". The Queen's Review. 58 (1): 27. 1953. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ Coburn, Kathleen (1977). In pursuit of Coleridge. p. 90. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ Rooke, Barbara, ed. (1969). The Friend, by S. T. Coleridge. Routledge and Keegan Paul.
- ^ "The Rose Mary Crawshay Prize" (PDF). British Academy. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ Byatt, A.S. (August 9, 1969). "Coleridge: A Tragi-comedy in weekly instalments". The Times.
- ^ "Dr. Barbara Rooke Speaks On Rev. Edward Coleridge". Queen's Review: 81. 1951. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "Fonds 82-008 - Professor Barbara Rooke fonds". Trent University Library & Archives. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "Trent University English Literature". CAUT Bulletin. 32 (1): 34. 1985. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "Books That Made A Difference". Trent University. October 17, 2003. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "The Barbara Rooke Travel Prize Recipients". Trent University. Retrieved 5 April 2021.