Alma Frances McCollum

Alma Frances McCollum was born on 7 December 1879 in a village near Chatham, Ontario.[1] She was the youngest child in the family. Her parents both were born and brought up in Ireland. Her father, Edward Lee Collum, died when McCollum was still a child, and the family moved to Peterborough, Ontario, where they lived till 1905 before moving to Toronto.[3]

McCollum graduated from the Collegiate Institute at Peterborough and studied at the Toronto Presbyterian Ladies College, as well as in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1]

McCollum early started making rhymes and wrote most of the poems in her teen years.[4] A collection of her poems named Flower Legends and Other Poems was published in 1902.[2] The cover design of the book was sketched by McCollum herself.[4] The book was positively accepted by the Toronto literary community, namely Ethelwyn Wetherald, Jean Blewett, and J. W. Galvin.[1]

Having moved to Toronto she received musical training at the School of Expression in the Toronto Conservatory of Music and wrote plays for children.[1] She also took lectures in English Literature at University College, but after brief attendance she had to discontinue her studies due to health problems.[4]

McCollum was diagnosed with incipient appendicitis, and during the operation on 21 March 1906 she died at the age of 26.[4]

Her book Flower Legends and Other Stories (1902) and its reprints can be found in libraries throughout the world, including The British Library,[5] McGrill University Library,[6] Plymouth State University Library[7] and others.

Her poems are also anthologized in following collections: Campbell, Oxford Book of Canadian Verse (1913); Caswell, Canadian Singers and Their Songs (1925); Garvin, Canadian Poets (1916); Garvin, Canadian Verse for Boys and Girls (1930); Whyte-Edgar, Wreath of Canadian Song (1910).[1]