Eugene Benson
Eugene Benson is a Canadian professor of English and a prolific writer, novelist, playwright and librettist.
Early life
Born in Northern Ireland, Benson obtained a bachelor's degree from the National University of Ireland, a master's degree from the University of Western Ontario and his PhD from the University of Toronto.Career
Benson is the librettist of six operatic works: Heloise and Abelard ; Everyman ; Psycho Red ; Ernest, the Importance of Being ; The Auction: A Folk Opera ; A Tale of Two Cities. Everyman and Psycho Red were broadcast by the CBC.Benson wrote two novels, The Bulls of Ronda and the political satire Power Game. He has written four plays broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and, with his wife, Renate Benson, has translated plays from Quebec French. In 2003, he and Bill Fraser adapted Powergame as a TV movie, North of America. His plays include The Ram, Joan of Arc’s Violin, The Gunner’s Rope,, and The Doctors’ Wife. With his wife, Renate Benson, Eugene has translated a number of French Canadian plays. He edited the periodical Canadian Drama. He has written four plays broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and, with his wife, Renate Benson, has translated plays from Quebec French. He edited the periodical Canadian Drama. In 2003 he and Bill Fraser adapted his political satire Powergame into the TV movie North of America.
Benson's scholarly publications include J.M. Synge, English-Canadian Theatre, The Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatre, The Routledge Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English — the last three co-edited with L.W. Conolly — and The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. He edited the anthology Encounter: Canadian Drama in Four Media and the scholarly journal Canadian Drama/L’Art dramatique canadien.
Benson was president, administrative director and Budget Officer of the Guelph Spring Festival for many years, and is a former Chair of the Writers' Union of Canada. He was Founding co-president, with Margaret Atwood, of the Canadian Centre of International PEN, and served as its vice-president. He was President of PEN Canada in 1984.
In 2019, he published a memoir, The Symmetry of the Tyger, an account of his involvement in Canadian culture.
Personal life
He married Renate Niklaus, a languages and literature professor at University of Guelph, in 1968. Together they have two sons: Ormonde, a lawyer, and Shaun, an actor. Renate Benson is the author of German Expressionist Drama and other books.He is also the great-uncle of Robb Armstrong, artist of the comic Jump Start.
Works
Works edited
- The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature, co-edited with William Toye The Oxford Companion to Canadian Theatre, co-edited with L.W Connolly Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, co-edited with L.W. Connolly