Manuscript Collection - Sam Solecki Papers

Sam Solecki is a writer and Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto Department of English. He is the author of numerous original works, mainly within the genre of literary criticism. His books include The Etruscans in the Modern Imagination (2022), A Truffaut Notebook (2015), Ragas of Longing: The Poetry of Michael Ondaatje (2003), The Last Canadian Poet: An Essay on Al Purdy (1999), Spider Blues: Essays on Michael Ondaatje (1986), and Aspects of Education in the Work of D.H. Lawrence (1974). Solecki also authored three books on the work of Josef Škvorecký: Josef Škvorecký and His Works (1996), The Achievement of Josef Škvorecký (1994), and Prague Blues: The Fiction of Josef Škvorecký: a Critical Study (1990). His essay, “Josef Škvorecký and the Central European Imagination,” appeared in the book Images of Central Europe in Travelogues and Fiction by North American Writers (W. Zacharasiewicz ed., 1995). Solecki also collaborated with W.J. Keith and J. Metcalf on Volleys (1990), a book focused on debates between the three authors.
In addition to his original books and essays, Solecki is also known for his edited collections of other authors’ poetry, prose, and letters. His edited collections include One Muddy Hand: Selected Poems (2006), which featured the work of Earle Birney; Yours, Al: The Collected Letters of Al Purdy (2004); Beyond Remembering: The Collected Poems of Al Purdy (2000); Imagining Canadian Literature: The Selected Letters of Jack McClelland (1998); Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets: Selected Poems of Al Purdy (1996); and Starting from Ameliasburgh: The Collected Prose of Al Purdy (1995).