Barbara Rooke
Barbara Elizabeth Rooke (1917–1978){{cite book |last1=Coleridge |first1=Samuel Taylor |title=The Notebooks of Samuel Taylor Coleridge|volume= 4: 1819-1826: Notes |date=6 August 2019 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-65599-4 |page=821` |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jZWaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA821 |language=en}} was a Canadian scholar of English literature, a specialist in the works of Coleridge. A professor of English at the Trent University in Canada, she won the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay Prize in 1970.
Life
Rooke attended the Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, graduating with honours in 1940 and winning the Wilhelmina Gordon Foundation scholarship for English.{{cite journal|journal=Alumnae News|title=Scholarships Won by Women in Queen's University in 1940|volume=XXIV|year=1940|page=80|url=https://archive.org/details/qualumnae1940/page/80/mode/2up?q=%22barbara+rooke%22|access-date=5 April 2021}} Following her master's degree the following year, she was in the Women's Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force until the end of the Second World War.{{cite journal|journal=Queen's Review|year=1948|url=https://archive.org/details/queensreview22/page/100/mode/2up?q=%22barbara+rooke%22|page=100|title=Letter from London: Barbara Rooke|access-date=5 April 2021}} She was an assistant section officer based in Mossbank, Saskatchewan in charge of new recruits.{{cite news|newspaper=The Leader-Post|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/495274802/|date=June 1, 1942|title=Women Find Place in War at Mossbank Air Station|first=Kay|last=Kritzweiser|location=Regina, Saskatchewan|access-date=5 April 2021}}
Rooke obtained a Royal Society of Canada Fellowship to study abroad in 1948–1949.{{cite journal|journal=Calendar of the Faculty of Arts, 1948-49|page=86|url=https://archive.org/details/qucalendararts1948/page/86/mode/2up?q=%22barbara+rooke%22|access-date=5 April 2021|title=Royal Society of Canada Fellowships|year=1948}} She obtained a doctorate from the University of London.
In 1948, Rooke and Kathleen Coburn undertook a research trip to Scotland, following Coleridge and Wordsworth's 1803 journey. Coburn related how their ration cards were often not accepted to obtain eggs and meat.{{cite book|title=In pursuit of Coleridge|first=Kathleen|last=Coburn|url=https://archive.org/details/inpursuitofcoler00cobu/page/90/mode/2up?q=barbara|access-date=5 April 2021|publisher=|year=1977|page=90}} Rooke's doctoral research was on Coleridge, which she continued in her later academic life. This led to the two-volume edition of The Friend that she published in 1969 as part of the Bollingen series of Coleridge's collected works (edited by Kathleen Coburn),{{cite book|title=The Friend, by S. T. Coleridge|editor-first=Barbara|editor-last=Rooke|year=1969|publisher=Routledge and Keegan Paul}} for which she won the Rose Mary Crawshay Prize.{{cite web|publisher=British Academy|url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/2628/Rose-Mary-Crawshay-Prize-pre-2000.pdf|access-date=5 April 2021|title=The Rose Mary Crawshay Prize}} The work was lauded for its beauty and lucidity.{{cite news|newspaper=The Times|first=A.S.|last=Byatt|author-link=A. S. Byatt|title=Coleridge: A Tragi-comedy in weekly instalments|date=August 9, 1969}}
In 1951, Rooke was a member of the department of English at the Victoria College, University of Toronto.{{cite journal|journal=Queen's Review|year=1951|url=https://archive.org/details/queensreview25/page/80/mode/2up?q=%22barbara+rooke%22|page=81|title=Dr. Barbara Rooke Speaks On Rev. Edward Coleridge|access-date=5 April 2021}} She was a lecturer of English at the University College of the West Indies in Jamaica.{{cite journal|journal=The Queen's Review|volume=58|number=1|title=Notes|year=1953|page=27|url=https://archive.org/details/queensreview28/page/26/mode/2up?q=barbara+rooke|access-date=5 April 2021}} Between 1967 and 1979, she was a professor of English literature at Trent University in Canada.{{cite web|url=https://archives.trentu.ca/index.php/82-008|title=Fonds 82-008 - Professor Barbara Rooke fonds|publisher=Trent University Library & Archives|access-date=5 April 2021}}
Recognition
A Barbara Rooke Fellowship for post-doctoral research was established by Trent University, allowing scholars to study the English Romantic period.{{Cite journal|journal=CAUT Bulletin|url=https://archive.org/details/cautbulletin32_1/page/34/mode/2up?q=%22barbara+rooke%22|year=1985|volume=32|number=1|title=Trent University English Literature|access-date=5 April 2021|page=34}} The Rooke Memorial Lectures are held annually since 1998 at the Trent University to honour Barbara Rooke.{{cite web|url=http://www.trentu.ca/newsarchive/weekly/archive/031017rooke.html|publisher=Trent University|title=Books That Made A Difference|date=October 17, 2003|access-date=5 April 2021}} The Barbara Rooke Travel Prize has been offered since 2013 to a high-achieving graduate of the university's English department to travel to a significant literary heritage site.{{cite web|url= https://www.trentu.ca/english/barbara-rooke-travel-prize-recipients|title=The Barbara Rooke Travel Prize Recipients |publisher=Trent University|access-date=5 April 2021}}
References
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Category:Academic staff of Trent University