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Laura Goodman Salverson (December 9, 1890 – July 13, 1970) was a Canadian author. Her work reflected her Icelandic heritage. Two of her books won Governor General's awards for literature.

Early life

Salverson was born Laura Goodman in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the daughter of Lárus Guðmundsson and Ingibjörg Guðmundsdóttir who immigrated to Winnipeg in 1887 from Grundir in Bolungarvík, Iceland. She married George Salverson in 1913.

Career

While a young housewife and mother, Salverson began writing poetry. Several of her poems were published by local newspapers.

In 1923 Salverson published her first novel. The Viking Heart. She went on to write several novels based on Icelandic sagas and themes. Many of the characters in her stories were Scandinavian and German.

Salverson wrote about her experiences with poverty and racial prejudice. Her writings reflected her belief that Icelandic immigrants to Canada should maintain and support their Icelandic culture. In 1939 she wrote an autobiography.

Works

• The Viking Heart (1923)
• When Sparrows Fall (1925)
• Wayside Gleams (1925)
• Lord of the Silver Dragons (1927)
• The Dove (1933)
• The Dark Weaver: Against the Sombre Background of the Old Generations Flame the Scarlet Banners of the New (1937), winner of a 1937 Governor General's Award
• Black Lace (1938)
• Confessions of an Immigrant's Daughter (1939), winner of a 1939 Governor General's Award
• Immortal Rock: The Saga of the Kensington Stone (1954), winner of the 1954 Ryerson Fiction Award

References

1. ^ Laura Salverson in The Canadian Encyclopedia.
2. Merna Forster (12 November 2014). Canadian Heroines 2-Book Bundle: 100 Canadian Heroines / 100 More Canadian Heroines. Dundurn. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-4597-3087-8.
3. George Melnyk (1998). The Literary History of Alberta: From Writing-on-Stone to World War Two. University of Alberta. pp. 103–. ISBN 978-0-88864-296-7.
4. Terrence Craig (30 October 2010). Racial Attitudes in English-Canadian Fiction, 1905-1980. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-55458-661-5.
5. Julie Rak (2 August 2009). Auto/biography in Canada: Critical Directions. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-1-55458-771-1.
6. Daisy Neijmann (1997). Icelandic Voice in Canadian Letters: The Contribution of Icelandic-Canadian Writers to Canadian Literature. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-88629-317-8.
7. Norah Story (June 1967). The Oxford companion to Canadian history and literature. Oxford University Press. p. 744.

External links

• Works by Laura Goodman Salverson at Faded Page (Canada)
• Works by Laura Salverson at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Laura Goodman Salverson fonds, LMS-0016 are held at Library and Archives Canada. There are other complementary material in Laura Goodman Salverson fonds (R5600)

• 1890 births
• 1970 deaths
• 20th-century Canadian novelists
• 20th-century Canadian women writers
• Canadian women non-fiction writers
• Canadian women novelists
• Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers
• Governor General's Award–winning non-fiction writers
• Writers from Winnipeg