Betty Jane Wylie

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Betty Jane Wylie
BornBetty Jane McKenty
(1931-02-21) February 21, 1931 (age 92)
Winnipeg, Manitoba
OccupationScreenwriter, playwright, author
Alma mater University of Manitoba
Notable awards Order of Canada
SpouseWilliam Tennant (Bill) Wylie

Betty Jane Wylie, CM (born February 21, 1931) is a Canadian writer and playwright.

Contents

Born Betty Jane McKenty in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951 and a Master of Arts degree in 1952 from the University of Manitoba. [1] Soon after graduation, she married William Tennant (Bill) Wylie and the couple raised a family of four children. [1] The family moved from Winnipeg to Stratford, Ontario where her husband took up a position with the Stratford Festival. With his sudden death in 1972, Wylie took up writing professionally to support herself and her family. [1]

In her book "The Write Track" she discusses how to succeed as a freelance writer in Canada. Betty Jane Wylie was a published poet first, then a puppet playwright, then a live-stage playwright for both children and adults before shifting to writing and screenwriting for television and film. She later shifted her focus to screenplays and books. Her stage plays have been produced at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, St. Lawrence Centre, National Arts Centre, Stratford Third Stage (now the Tom Patterson Theatre), Factory Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille and Theatre Direct in Toronto, and other theatres in Canada (Saskatchewan, Alberta, NW Territories, etc. as well as various fringe festivals; in New York (AMAS Repertory Theatre), [2] Minneapolis and Waterloo, Iowa, and in New Zealand, London, England, and South Africa. In the course of her career, she has had 36 stage plays (and musicals) produced and published about 40 books of non-fiction, biography, belles letters, poetry and cooking.

Her first TV movie, Coming of Age (co-written with Donald Martin) won two Geminis (for best supporting actors) in 1995. [3] She was a Bunting Fellow at Radcliffe, has been named a Woman of Distinction by the YWCA, and given an Alumni Jubilee Award by the University of Manitoba where she received an honorary doctorate (D.Litt.) in May 2003. [1]

In 2003, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honor. [4] [5]

Selected bibliography

Non-fiction

Cookbooks

Poetry

Belles Lettres

Biography

Inspirational

Children's books

Plays

Plays for children

Radio Plays

Musicals/Operas

Recordings

Television and film

Journalism

Wylie worked as a freelance journalist and columnist and published widely in the Canadian press and national magazines. Her work has appeared in MacLean's, Chatelaine, Homemakers, Toronto Life, Miss Chatelaine (now Flare), Calgary Magazine, Canadian Living, Performing Arts, Canadian Theatre Review, Recipes Only, Fiddlehead, Forum, Fifty Plus, Gourmet (USA), Today, The Canadian, The Icelandic Canadian, Prairie Fire, Quest, City Woman, City Magazine, Ontario Living, Leisureways, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Winnipeg Free Press, and the Boston Globe. In 1978, she wrote a series on single women living in the city for the Toronto Star. [24] [25] In 1979, she wrote a series on the cost of living for widows and old age pensioners. [26] [27] [28] [29] In 1981, she wrote an investigative series "Underground in Parkdale" for the Toronto Star focusing on the living conditions of discharged psychiatric patients living in the boarding houses in the Parkdale neighborhood of Toronto. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Aminian, Nicole. "LibGuides: Betty Jane Wylie fonds: Home". libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  2. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1977-10-11). "Drama behind the drama on off Off Broadway". The Toronto Star. pp. C1. 1372737965 – via ProQuest.
  3. ↑ Coming of Age - IMDb , retrieved 2022-11-07
  4. ↑ Order of Canada citation
  5. ↑ Enman, Charles (2004-10-31). "Joni Mitchell inducted into Order of Canada". CanWest News. Don Mills, Ont., Canada. p. 1. ProQuest   461352123 . Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  6. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (2003). The Write Track : How to Succeed as a Freelance Writer in Canada Second Edition, Revised and Expanded. Toronto: Dundurn. ISBN   978-1-77070-148-9. OCLC   699474551.
  7. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1999). Letters to Icelanders : exploring the northern soul. Toronto: Macmillan Canada. ISBN   0-7715-7635-8. OCLC   41224444.
  8. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1984). The survival guide for widows. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN   0-345-33008-0. OCLC   13090753.
  9. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1986). Successfully single: how to live alone and like it. Toronto: Key Porter Books. ISBN   1-55013-007-2. OCLC   16027875.
  10. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1984). The Betty Jane Wylie cheese cookbook. Toronto: Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-540453-X. OCLC   15953734.
  11. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1982). Encore: the leftovers cookbook. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN   0-7710-9055-2. OCLC   70056638.
  12. ↑ "The book of Matthew : the story of a learning-disabled child | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  13. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1986-03-07). "Independence day for Matt and Mell". The Toronto Star. pp. F1. 1412370758 – via ProQuest.
  14. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1980). No two alike. United Church of Canada. Hamilton, Ont.: Image Pub. ISBN   0-919357-00-8. OCLC   15973171.
  15. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1983). John of a thousand faces. Tom McNeely. Windsor, Ont.: Black Moss Press. ISBN   0-88753-107-5. OCLC   16181136.
  16. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1982). Tecumseh. Phil McLeod. Windsor, Ont.: Black Moss Press. ISBN   0-88753-091-5. OCLC   15944651.
  17. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1981). The Horsburgh scandal. Theatre Passe Muraille. Windsor, Ont.: Black Moss Press. ISBN   0-88753-073-7. OCLC   11737550.
  18. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1979). Mark: a play. Toronto: Playwrights Co-op. ISBN   0-88754-178-X. OCLC   6722215.
  19. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1982). A place on Earth. Toronto: Playwrights Canada. ISBN   0-88754-319-7. OCLC   10179042.
  20. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1980). Don't just stand there-jiggle!: seven puppet plays. Windsor, Ont.: Black Moss Press. ISBN   0-88753-065-6. OCLC   7175616.
  21. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1967). Kingsayer. Playwrights Union of Canada. Toronto: Playwrights Union of Canada. ISBN   1-55155-786-X. OCLC   627658952.
  22. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1978). The old woman and the pedlar and Kingsayer: two plays for children. Toronto: Playwrights Co-op. ISBN   0-88754-110-0. OCLC   5777505.
  23. ↑ "Beowulf: [a musical epic, based on the Anglo-Saxon poem] | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  24. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1978-07-22). "Sex for the single woman is a matter of conscience". The Toronto Star. pp. F1. 1372785487 – via ProQuest.
  25. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1978-07-26). "Singles must work at eating well". The Toronto Star. pp. C2. 1372494844 – via ProQuest.
  26. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1978-12-03). "On $364.87 a month, I didn't exist". pp. D1. 1398197303 – via ProQuest.
  27. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1979-12-04). "I found a home for $35 a week". The Toronto Star. pp. B1. 1373299081 – via ProQuest.
  28. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1979-12-04). "End of a long lonely road, society turns back when depression fills a widow's empty hours". The Toronto Star. pp. H1. 1373300578 – via ProQuest.
  29. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1979-12-05). "My food bill for 3 weeks: $66 : shopping on a pensioner's budget meant picking every bone". The Toronto Star. pp. C1. 1373299675 – via ProQuest.
  30. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1981-08-24). "My desolate taste of life in the pits". The Toronto Star. pp. D5. 1403459019 – via ProQuest.
  31. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1981-08-25). "Life at the bottom offers a dismal diet". The Toronto Star. pp. C2. 1399363448 – via ProQuest.
  32. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1981-08-26). "Idle times dulls the brain". The Toronto Star. pp. B18. 1399365397 – via ProQuest.
  33. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1981-08-27). "Ghetto breeds me-first mentality". The Toronto Star. pp. F1. 1410992381 – via ProQuest.
  34. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1981-08-28). "Co-op: a plan to salvage dignity". The Toronto Star. pp. C1. 1399368337 – via ProQuest.
  35. ↑ Wylie, Betty Jane (1981-09-18). "Expose stuns Parkdale pals: Pride, anger, and hope for reform greet writer Betty Jane Wylie as she returns to the ghetto to her middle-class self". The Toronto Star. pp. C1. 1399982458 – via ProQuest.
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