# Elspeth Cameron

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{{Short description|Canadian writer (1943–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}}
{{Infobox person
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1943|1|10|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [Barrie, Ontario](/source/Barrie%2C_Ontario), Canada
| death_date         = {{death date and age|df=y|2025|8|13|1943|1|10}}
| death_place        = [St. Catharines, Ontario](/source/St._Catharines%2C_Ontario), Canada
| occupation         = Writer, poet
| known_for          = Biographies
}}
'''Elspeth MacGregor Cameron''' (10 January 1943 – 13 August 2025) was a Canadian writer best known for her [biographies](/source/biographies) of noted Canadian literary figures such as [Irving Layton](/source/Irving_Layton) and [Earle Birney](/source/Earle_Birney). She was also noted for her 1997 memoir ''No Previous Experience'', a memoir of her process of self-discovery when, having previously identified as [heterosexual](/source/heterosexual), she began to develop a sexual and romantic attraction to historian Janice Dickin McGinnis.<ref>"Out of the closet with a vengeance". ''[Waterloo Region Record](/source/Waterloo_Region_Record)'', 14 June 1997.</ref> She also published a volume of poetry.

Cameron lived in [St. Catharines](/source/St._Catharines%2C_Ontario), [Ontario](/source/Ontario). She taught at [Concordia University](/source/Concordia_University), the [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto) and [Brock University](/source/Brock_University). She died in St. Catharines on 13 August 2025, at the age of 82.<ref>{{cite web|title=Biographer Elspeth Cameron told stories of Canadian literary talents and revealed her own secret life|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-biographer-told-stories-of-canadian-literary-talents-and-revealed-her/|date=8 September 2025|last=Stoffman|first=Judy|publisher=The Globe and Mail|access-date=17 September 2025}}</ref>

==Awards==
Her biography of [Hugh MacLennan](/source/Hugh_MacLennan), ''Hugh MacLennan: A Writer's Life'', was nominated for the [Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction](/source/Governor_General's_Award_for_English-language_non-fiction) at the [1981 Governor General's Awards](/source/1981_Governor_General's_Awards).<ref>"Gallant's collection of short stories takes fiction prize". ''[The Globe and Mail](/source/The_Globe_and_Mail)'', 18 May 1982.</ref> ''No Previous Experience'' won the W. O. Mitchell Literary Prize.<ref>"Calgarians are on a roll". ''[Calgary Herald](/source/Calgary_Herald)'', 18 July 1998.</ref>

==Bibliography==
*''Hugh MacLennan: A Writer's Life'' (1981)
*''A Spider Danced A Cosy Jig'' (1984)
*''Irving Layton: A Portrait'' (1985)
*''Robertson Davies: An Appreciation'' (1991)
*''Earle Birney: A Life'' (1994)
*''Great Dames'' (1997)
*''No Previous Experience: A Memoir of Love and Change'' (1997)
*''And Beauty Answers: The Life of Frances Loring and Florence Wyle'' (2007)
*''Aunt Winnie'' (2013)
*A Tale of Two Divas:  The Curious Adventures of Jean Forsyth and Edith J. Miller in Canada’s Edwardian West (2017)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Archival records|title=Elspeth Cameron Papers}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Elspeth}}
Category:1943 births
Category:2025 deaths
<!--Please do not add bisexual categories. She must publicly identify as bisexual in order for it to be added-->
Category:20th-century Canadian biographers
Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers
Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent
Category:Canadian LGBTQ writers
Category:People from St. Catharines
Category:Canadian women biographers
Category:Writers from Ontario
Category:20th-century Canadian women writers
Category:21st-century Canadian biographers
Category:21st-century Canadian women writers
Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people

{{Canada-nonfiction-writer-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Elspeth Cameron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elspeth_Cameron) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elspeth_Cameron?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.