L.M. Montgomery and Canadian mass-market magazines

Abstract

Despite L.M. Montgomery’s voluminous presence in the North American periodical marketplace throughout her literary career, critical studies of Montgomery largely remain focused on her novels and journals. This article examines Montgomery’s short fiction and feature submissions to the Canadian mass-market magazines Chatelaine and the Canadian Home Journal. It analyses the editorial commentary, page layout, and illustrations which appeared alongside the text of the stories themselves, in order to examine the way in which Montgomery’s work was framed and presented on the pages of periodicals. Through a close analysis of a few of Montgomery’s non-fiction contributions to Chatelaine, it also explores the ways in which she shaped and controlled her public status as a ‘celebrity’ author late in her career. This article thus aims to build towards a wider understanding of Montgomery’s literary outputs and her successful navigation of the Canadian literary marketplace.