The late novelist Mordecai Richler’s desk, typewriter and an ashtray that once held his Montecristo cigars are among the many items recently donated to Concordia University by the author’s literary estate. The artifacts, along with some of his private papers, books and other mementos, are on display in the Mordecai Richler Reading Room located in the university’s J. W. McConnell Library.
The creation of the Richler Reading Room “will ensure that his works continue to be analyzed, celebrated and critiqued for generations to come,” said Concordia President Alan Shepard, adding that Mr. Richler’s personal papers and library will be made available for consultation by students, writers and the general public via an online database.
Mr. Richler, whose novels include The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, St. Urbain’s Horseman and Barney’s Version, attended one of Concordia’s founding institutions, Sir George Williams University, between 1949 and 1951 and served as its writer-in-residence in 1968 and 1969. A Companion of the Order of Canada, Mr. Richler died in 2001.
awesome