Edward A. Watson was born in 1936. He attended Kingston College in the early 1950s where he represented the school in Manning Cup (1954), Track and Field and Tennis (1952-53). Edward along with his four brothers has the distinction of all attending Kingston College at the same time.
Edward who is a retired University Professor and now resides in Windsor, Canada, obtained his B.A. from Howard University in 1961, an M.A from University of Chicago in 1962 and his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1967.
A recipient of the Canada Council Research Fellowships, 1968-1974, during his many years in academe, Edward taught English Literature, Critical Analysis, History of Literary Criticism from Plato to the Present at various Institutions from 1962-63 to 1995:
University of Illinois, Navy Pier, 1962-63
Victoria College, Un of Toronto, 1964-66
Glendon College, York University, 1964,'65, '66
Ryerson Polytechnic Institute, Toronto, 1965
University of Windsor, 1966-1995
Visiting Professor, Wayne State University , 1968
Director of Studies in Criticism, York University, Summer, 1971
Edward’s first "publications" appeared at Howard U., but his first Professional critical essay appeared in Queen's Quarterly in 1966 along with essays by Marshall McLuhan, Northrop Frye, Mitchell Sharp, and others. It was one of the first extended studies of James Baldwin's essays.(Abstracts are contained in Contemporary Literary Studies.)
Throughout the years, Edward has followed the Baldwin essay with essays on James Joyce, Aristotle, John Henry Newman, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, Oscar Wilde, Kenneth Burke (3), Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, along with public Lectures upon a variety of subjects including Liberalism in the Academy, the Function of Criticism, and Talks on individual contemporary authors, including Toni Morrison, Pablo Neruda, and Derek Walcott.
Edward has given poetry readings in Windsor, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Toronto, Kingston, Jamaica, along with radio broadcasts in Windsor, Toronto and two stations in Jamaica. His works include the following:
"Out of the Silent Stone" was published by Bruckings in1976
"A Study of Selected English Critical Terms from 1650 to 1800", New York, Berne, Frankfurt on the Main, Paris: Peter Lang, 1987.
"Literary Criticism; Ten Approaches", eds. Edward A. Watson and Edward W. Ducharme, Canadian Scholars' Press, 1990. (ISBN 0-921627-25-4).
Out of Darkness Blossoming," Cranberry Tree Press, Windsor, Ontario, 2007.
Critical Essays were published in the following:
ENGLISH LITERATURE IN TRANSITION:1800-1920 (Arizona State University)
THE ARNOLDIAN (U.S. Naval Academy)
STUDIES IN BROWNING (Baylor University, Waco, Texas)
THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR REVIEW (3) Windsor, Ont., CDN.)
HORNS OF PLENTY (Chicago)
DALHOUSIE REVIEW (New Brunswick)
These are all refereed journals of International integrity and, as a result, essays published in the Periodicals above have been anthologized, reprinted, and in other ways, offered up for renewed appreciation in Studies Series, Collections, Author profiles, Characters and Themes.
Edward’s poems have also appeared in WASHINGTON REVIEW OF THE ARTS, FOCUS, BIM, WINDSOR UN. MAGAZINE, THE LANCE, WAYZGOOSE, JAMAICA JOURNAL, OTHER VOICES, CONNEXION, A SHAPELY FIRE, and THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR REVIEW.
Edward was Head of the Department of English Language, Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor from 1990 to 1993 and retired in 1995. His latest work “WHERE HIDDEN LOVE LIES, New Poems”, was published by Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston & Miami, 2009
