Editing Margaret Avison (section)

==Writing==
Avison can be considered a [[Spirituality|spiritual]] or metaphysical poet; "her work is often described by reviewers as introspective, observant, and deeply spiritual."<ref name=foundation/> "Many critics compare her work to the great [[metaphysical poets]] of the 17th century."<ref name="cbc"/>

''[[The Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' describes her as a "Canadian poet who revealed the progress of an interior spiritual journey in her three successive volumes of poetry," referring to her first three books, ''Winter Sun'', ''The Dumbfounding'', and ''sunblue''.<ref name=britannica>"[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Margaret-Avison Margaret Avison]," ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Britannica Online, Web, Apr. 3, 2011.</ref>

With ''Winter Sun'', "Avison established herself as a difficult and introspective poet given to private images and subtle shadings of emotion that challenge and frustrate the reader" (says ''[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]])''. "These complexities in her writing conceal a deeply religious and vulnerable sensibility."<ref name=gnarowski/> "In this volume the poet's subject matter varies from [[environmental destruction]] and the plight of the [[Poverty|poor]] to metaphysical ponderings and playful explorations of language. Avison's emphasis is on looking at the familiar in new and thought-provoking ways."<ref name=argot/> "One of Avison's principal concerns in ''Winter Sun'' is perception, and she consistently emphasizes looking at the familiar in new and thought-provoking ways. [[Ernest H. Redekop]] has argued that 'there is a profound sense in Avison's poems that the world must not be forced into ordinary limits of sight and articulation.' In the poem "Perspective," for instance, Avison attacks linear perspective."<ref name="enotes">"[http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/avison-margaret-vol-97 Margaret Avison]," eNotes.com, Web, Apr. 11, 2011.</ref>

''The Dumbfounding'' was "a more accessible record of spiritual discovery, and a more revealing account of the unmasked, narrative 'I.'"<ref name=gnarowski/> In this work, "Avison expresses her wonder at her own rediscovered [[faith]]. It employs the same poetic techniques as ''Winter Sun'', but here the poet is no longer searching for meaning. "Truth" has been identified as the presence of a personal, loving, and forgiving [[God]]."<ref name=enotes/>

"This was further developed in ''sunblue'' (1978), a combination of social concern and moral values fused by religious conviction and a continuing restatement of personal faith."<ref name=gnarowski/> "Both s''unblue'' and ''No Time'' reconfirm Avison's commitment to her Christian faith.... In conjunction with their Christian themes, Avison's poems often celebrate the creative power of the imagination as well as examining the concept of paradoxes and depicting people and landscapes from conflicting viewpoints."<ref name=enotes/>

"Avison has the reputation of being a cerebral poet. Her work has been characterized as 'intellectual'" and 'deliberate'; her use of word-play, disconcerting shifts in viewpoint, complex [[metaphors]], and literary [[allusions]] make her poetry a challenge to read."<ref name=argot/> "The thing with her poetry is that you must grapple with it, it just does not open up. Its rewards come only to those are willing to make the effort," said Zezulka. "Her poems were not snacks, they were full meals."<ref name=cbc/>

"Reviewers have praised the poet for using complex language not as an end in itself, but to accurately convey her subject matter: the love and power of [[God]]." While "some [[secularist]] critics find her post-conversion poetry too [[dogmatic]]," her defenders "claim that the purpose of Avison's poetry goes beyond that of simple religious [[proselytizing]]."<ref name=argot/>

Reviewing Avison's posthumous collection, ''Listening: Last Poems'' (2007), poet [[Judith Fitzgerald]] wrote of her: "An original, an authentic visionary ... Avison praises [[:wikt:creation|Creation]] in all its transplendent awesome/awful mutations."<ref name=foundation>"[http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/margaret-avison Margaret Avison (1918-2007)]," Poetry Foundation, Web, Apr. 3, 2011.</ref>

The [[University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections]] holds the [https://umlarchives.lib.umanitoba.ca/margaret-avison-fonds Margaret Avison Fonds].<ref name=":0" /> The fonds consist of textual records, photographs, audio-cassettes, compact discs, computer- diskettes, and CD-ROMs. Textual materials include, but are not limited to, unpublished poetry, correspondence, theses, essays, and poems.<ref name=":0" /> Margaret Calverley has written about this collection in her article "The Avison Collection at the University of Manitoba: Poems 1929-1989."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://canadianpoetry.org/volumes/vol28/calverley.html|title=The Avison Collection at the University of Manitoba: Poems 1929-1989|last=Calverley|first=Margaret|website=Canadianpoetry.org|access-date=August 6, 2019}}</ref>