REANEY, JAMES CRERAR

born Sept. 1, 1926, near Stratford, Ont., Can. Canadian poet and playwright whose works, dealing with Ontario small-town life, transcend their manifest content to move into areas of symbol and dream. Reaney received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto (1959), and in 1960 he founded Alphabet, a literary magazine, and became professor of English at the University of Western Ontario. His works include The Red Heart (1949), lyric poems; A Suit of Nettles (1958), 12 pastoral eclogues; The Killdeer, and Other Plays (1962), verse plays; The Dance of Death at London, Ontario (1963), a poetic satire of that town; and Poems (1972). Apple Butter and Other Plays (1973) is a collection of plays for children. Later he wrote Fourteen Barrels from Sea to Sea (1977), a commentary on Canadian theatrical life, written in the form of a travel diary.