| Mary Josephine Benson | |
| Birth Date: | 20 March 1887 |
| Occupation: | Poet, journalist |
| Nationality: | Canadian |
| Genres: | --> |
| Subjects: | --> |
| Notable Works: | My Pocket Beryl (1921) |
| Spouses: | --> |
| Partners: | --> |
| Signature: | Mary Josephine Benson signature.png |
Mary Josephine Benson (born Trotter; March 20, 1887August 31, 1965) was a Canadian poet and journalist.
Benson was originally from Port Hope, Ontario.[1] [2] She worked in journalism and advertising in Toronto in the 1910s, and returned to Port Hope following her marriage in 1915.[3]
A report on a reading she gave in 1931 described her voice as "charmingly musical".[4]
A 1922 review described her only published collection My Pocket Beryl as "real, personal and authentic poetry, of the present era".[5] Among the works collected in My Pocket Beryl is a prose poem about Christmas.[6]
In 1931, she received a $25 prize for her poem "The Bitter Lover", awarded "for the best short poem on any subject by a British subject residing in Canada". Andrew Macphail selected her poem as the winner.[7]
In addition to My Pocket Beryl, Benson published individual poems in newspapers and magazines including Maclean's and The Globe (now The Globe and Mail).[8] [9]