Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Marianne Brandis fonds
General material designation
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
RC0895
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1954-2004 (Creation)
- Creator
- Brandis, Marianne
Physical description area
Physical description
2.91 m of textual records
4 cm of drawings and paintings
27 photographs
72 col. negatives
2 audio cassettes
2 video recordings
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
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Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Born in the Netherlands in 1938, Marianne Brandis (full last name: “Brender à Brandis”) immigrated with her family in 1947 to Terrace, BC and currently lives in Stratford, Ontario. She was educated at UBC, St. Francis Xavier University, and McMaster University from which she graduated with a BA in 1960 and MA in 1964.
Brandis worked for a time as a copywriter for CKOC in Hamilton and CBC in Toronto in the 1960s. She also taught creative writing and English literature at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (Ryerson University) from 1967 until she resigned in 1989 at the age of 50 after which she pursued writing full-time. She continues to teach creative writing and memoir writing workshops.
Brandis’ writings contain diverse topics and include historical fiction, creative non-fiction, memoir, and biography genres. In her historical works, she deals with significant events and the private and daily lives of individuals. Perhaps best known are Brandis’ historical books for younger readers which were published in the 1980s and 1990s, and out of these, The Tinderbox (1982), The Quarter-Pie Window (1985), The Sign of the Scales (1990), Fire Ship (1992), and Rebellion (1996) received various awards and commendations. Brandis’ most recent projects have been creative non-fiction and other life-writing works. Brandis has collaborated extensively with her brother Gerard Brender à Brandis, the wood engraver and bookwright, and whose fonds is also at McMaster.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of research materials, manuscripts, and correspondence pertaining to Brandis’ writing activities; these files depict the extensive research, planning, and revision that she has undertaken while writing. The fonds also contains photographs and two audio cassettes, with one including her reading a selection of her poetry, located in Series 1. The fonds includes a number of notes and material for public talks and award ceremonies in Series 2; there are also video recordings of an awards ceremony and interview of Brandis. There are some early and shorter works by Brandis as well as drawings and acrylic paintings that Brandis created as a teenager in BC. A number of her books were removed from the rest of the materials and have been catalogued for Research Collections.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
The first accrual (32-2012) was acquired in September 2012, and the second accrual (45-2015) in October 2015. They were both donated by Marianne Brandis.
Arrangement
The fonds is arranged into the following six series:
Series 1 – Writing
Sub-series 1 – Published books
Sub-series 2 – Unpublished books
Sub-series 3 – Shorter works (Includes: early writings, short stories, poetry, a libretto, and a play)
Series 2 – Public Talks and Events
Series 3 – Promotional Material
Series 4 – Printed material about Brandis
Series 5 – Artwork
Language of material
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
There are no access restrictions
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Associated materials
Accruals
Further accruals are expected.