One of the great things about our project is our connection to communities around the world. We have heard from people who know something about one of our authors, or have questions we might be able to answer, from as far away as Australia and Europe. These people are poets themselves, or Can Lit aficionados, or (often) the descendents of our authors who are willing to share family stories with us.
Last summer, we received a comment on the website from Holly Jonson, the great-niece of Bonnie Dafoe, whose “Winter Trees” was published in the Anthology of Y. C. Verse: A Volume of Selections from the Verse Contributed by the Young Co-Operators and Published in the Western Producer from 1932-1936 ([Saskatoon, SK]: [Western Producer], 1937). That’s all we knew about Bonnie Dafoe: one poem, in one volume.
Bonnie Dafoe passed away this past December, and Holly wrote her own poem commemorating her great-aunt’s life. She has kindly permitted us to link it to our website, to share with you all: just another indication of how poets, readers, and relatives connect over time and space.
Canada's Early Women Writers: Authors lists 
What a lovely tribute and obviously the genes live on. 🙂
It is a lovely tribute, as is this entire blog! As a more recent member of the YC Club of the Western Producer, I think it’s wonderful that you are remembering these early writers. There is a Facebook page for anyone who submitted to the YC pages over the years. https://www.facebook.com/groups/YoungCoop/ I hope your readers who were part of this group will consider stopping by to say “Hello.”
Thank you so much for calling our attention to the facebook page. It’s marvellous to have a forum with such continuity; I had no idea that the Club still ran. I love the image on the banner as well… could any of these young ladies be our authors?
Hi Karyn,
I just found your reply to my comment from 2014 today. The YC Club actually ended in the 1990s, but alumni of the club have a Facebook page to chit-chat and keep up on each others projects since the good old days of the YCC. The banner photo was taken in the early 60s (1962?) so it’s unlikely any of your YC poets are in the picture. Most of the poems here are from the first book of YC verse, published in the 1930s. There was a second one, published in 1977 titled, “Glistening in the Sun” that covers the years 1927-1976.