Recognition
Throughout the 1950s and on into the early 1990s Layton travelled widely abroad and became especially popular in South Korea and Italy. In 1981 these two nations nominated him for the Nobel Prize for Literature. (The prize that year was instead awarded to novelist Gabriel García Márquez) Among his many awards during his career was the Governor-General's Award for A Red Carpet for the Sun in 1959. In 1976 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He was the first non-Italian to be awarded the Petrarch Award for Poetry.
In his lifetime Layton attracted some criticism for his bluster, self-promotion and long-windedness. He is remembered by many as one of the first Canadian rebels of poetry, politics, and philosophy. At Layton's funeral, Leonard Cohen, Moses Znaimer and David Solway were among those who gave eulogies.
A street in Montreal has been named Irving Layton Avenue. Irving Layton Avenue is located behind St. Richards Church and close to the corner of Guelph Rd. and Parkhaven Ave.
An online scholarly journal, "The Bull Calf" (founded by Kait Pinder and J.A. Weingarten), is named in honour of Layton's famous poem of the same name.
He is considered Leonard Cohen's literary mentor. Leonard Cohen once said of Layton, "I taught him how to dress, he taught me how to live forever."
Read more about this topic: Irving Layton
Famous quotes containing the word recognition:
“In a cabinet of natural history, we become sensible of a certain occult recognition and sympathy in regard to the most unwieldy and eccentric forms of beast, fish, and insect.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Admiration. Our polite recognition of another’s resemblance to ourselves.”
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914)
“Justice begins with the recognition of the necessity of sharing. The oldest law is that which regulates it, and this is still the most important law today and, as such, has remained the basic concern of all movements which have at heart the community of human activities and of human existence in general.”
—Elias Canetti (b. 1905)