Emily Ballantyne

Peterborough, Ontario
M.A. in English Literature (Public Texts)

“It’s difficult to pinpoint any one experience as my favourite, when my experience at Trent has been so full,” says Emily Ballantyne, a graduate of the Masters program in English Literature (Public Texts).

“I have had the opportunity to sample all aspects of academic life,” she adds, listing her role as TA and working with archival data while completing her M.A. course work as highlights of her graduate degree. A conversation with P.K. Page, Canadian poet and subject of Emily’s thesis, was also an unforgettable experience.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with a leading scholar and editor of Canadian literature,” Emily says of working alongside with her supervisor, Trent English professor Dr. Zailig Pollock. “Zailig is an editor of P.K. Page’s poetry as well as Page’s literary executive, and I’ve had an unparalleled research relationship with him.”

Emily’s thesis project developed around a grouping of previously unpublished poems by P.K. Page based on the poet’s experiences living in Brazil from 1957-1959. “This period is crucial to understanding Page’s larger oeuvre,” she explains. By examining additions, deletions, fragments and abandoned completed drafts, Emily illustrates Page’s process of composition in her thesis.

Enrolling in the still-new M.A. program (Public Texts is only three years old) was an exciting undertaking, as Emily found the faculty to be extremely engaged and eager to work with new students. “The focus of the Public Texts program is a divergence from a traditional English M.A.,” she explains, “The program allows its students to develop a specific, marketable skill set in textual theory and public reception. The emphasis on public texts makes this program unique; it offers bright futures in publishing, book history, public relations and traditional academic realms.”

The recipient of three major financial awards, Emily has had the good fortune of participating fully in any opportunity presented to her as well as maintaining her home in Peterborough. “What more could a graduate student ask for?” she says. “I was able to travel to the Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa for three separate research trips,” she says, commenting on academic privileges made possible through her scholarships, including training sessions in digital humanities, a conference in Montreal and delivering a paper on her thesis at the North East Modern Language Association Conference.

Describing herself as “heavily invested” in her education, Emily begins will begin her Ph.D. at Dalhousie University in the fall. Her Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Dean Irvine, is the head of a multi-million dollar SSHRC cluster grant called Editing Modernism in Canada, and co-editor of the Complete Works of P.K. Page. She will throw herself into her studies in Halifax, and continue to strive to find a productive balance between work and home life by volunteering, devoting herself to teaching and TA positions, and treating herself to yoga and swimming.

“I don’t know what the future will bring,” she says, “but I do know it will offer a delightful challenge. I hope to retain my commitment to life-long learning and will bring my love of English literature to future generations of Canadian scholars.”