Descant (magazine)

Descant
EditorKaren Mulhallen
CategoriesLiterary magazine
FrequencyQuarterly
Founded1970
Final issue2015
CountryCanada
Based inToronto
LanguageEnglish
Websitewww.descant.ca
ISSN0382-909X

Descant (1970 – 2015) was a quarterly literary magazine that published new and established contemporary writers and visual artists from Canada and around the world, reflecting "a cosmopolitan awareness."[1] It was established in 1970 as a mimeograph.[2] Based in Toronto, in its later years Descant published two themed issues per year, and a winter and summer miscellany issue. From 2007 to 2014, Descant sponsored the Winston Collins/Descant Prize for Best Canadian Poem.

The list of contributors to Descant includes numerous now-famous Canadian authors.[3] Many of these are listed in Bibliomania (No. 133, summer 2006) and Bibliomania 2 (No. 135, winter 2006) and include: Margaret Atwood, bill bissett, Nicole Brossard, Anne Carson, Camilla Gibb, Barbara Gowdy, Dennis Lee, Daphne Marlatt, Anne Michaels, Michael Ondaatje, Al Purdy, Leon Rooke, Jane Urquhart and Jan Zwicky.

The last issue of Descant, No. 167, was launched at Supermarket Restaurant and Bar, in Toronto, in January 2015.[4]

A final party was held at Revival Bar in Toronto on March 25, 2015.[5]

The magazine's extensive archives are located in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto.

  1. ^ "Literary Magazines in English", The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  2. ^ "About Descant". Descant.ca. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
  3. ^ Becky Robertson, "Descant magazine announces final issue", Quill & Quire, December 10, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  4. ^ "The Last Issue: D167 - In a Cabinet of Curiosities", blogTO, January 29, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  5. ^ Deborah Dundas (April 23, 2015). "Brave new world for Canada's literary journals". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 1, 2015.