Woodcock remained an anarchist for the rest of his life, writing several books on the subject, includingAnarchism, the anthologyThe Anarchist Reader (1977), and biographies ofPierre-Joseph Proudhon,William Godwin,Oscar Wilde andPeter Kropotkin. It was during these years that he met several prominent literary figures, includingT. S. Eliot andAldous Huxley, and forging a particularly close relationship with theart theoristHerbert Read.[4] His first published work wasThe White Island, a collection ofpoetry, which was issued byFortune Press in 1940.[5]
AtCamp Angel inOregon, a camp forconscientious objectors, Woodcock helped found theUntide Press, which sought to bring poetry to the public in an inexpensive but attractive format. Following the war, he returned to Canada, eventually settling inVancouver,British Columbia. In 1955, he took a post in the English department of theUniversity of British Columbia, where he stayed until the 1970s. Around this time he started to write more prolifically, producing several travel books and collections of poetry, as well as the works on anarchism for which he is best known in collaboration withIvan Avakumović.[citation needed]
Toward the end of his life, Woodcock became increasingly interested in what he saw as the plight ofTibetans. He traveled toIndia, studiedBuddhism, became friends with theDalai Lama and established the Tibetan Refugee Aid Society. With Inge, his wife, he established Canada India Village Aid, which sponsors self-help projects in ruralIndia. Both organizations exemplify his ideal of voluntary cooperation between people across national boundaries.[citation needed]
The Woodcocks established the Woodcock Fund to support professional Canadian writers. Since 1989, it provides financial assistance to writers in mid-book-project who face unforeseen financial needs that threaten the completion of their books. it is available to writers of fiction, creative non-fiction, plays, and poetry. The initial endowment of the program was in excess of two million dollars, is administered by theWriters' Trust of Canada and by March 2012 had distributed $887,273 to 180 Canadian writers.[7]
George Woodcock died at his home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on January 28, 1995.[8]
Woodcock first came to knowGeorge Orwell after they had a public disagreement in the pages of thePartisan Review. In his "London Letter" published in the March–April 1942 issue of the review, Orwell had written that in the context of a war against fascism,pacifism was "objectivelypro-fascist".[9] As the founder and editor ofNow, an "anti-war paper" which Orwell had mentioned in his article as an example of publications that published contributions by bothpacifists andfascists, Woodcock took exception to this.[9]: 257 Woodcock stated that "the review had abandoned its position as an independent forum", and was now "the cultural review of the British Anarchist movement".[9] Despite this difference, the two became good friends and kept up a correspondence until Orwell's death, andNow would publish Orwell's article "How the Poor Die" in its November 6, 1946 issue.[10]
Woodcock later wroteThe Crystal Spirit (1966), a critical study of Orwell and his work which won aGovernor General's Award.[11] The title is taken from the last line of the poem written by Orwell in memory of the Italian militiaman he met in Barcelona in December 1936 during theSpanish Civil War, a meeting Orwell describes in the opening lines toHomage to Catalonia (1938).[12]
Woodcock was honoured with several awards, including a Fellowship of theRoyal Society of Canada in 1968, the UBC Medal for Popular Biography in 1973 and 1976, and theMolson Prize in 1973. In 1970, he received an honorary doctorate fromSir George Williams University, which later becameConcordia University.[13] He only accepted awards from his peers, refusing several offered by the state, including theOrder of Canada. He made one exception in 1994, receiving the Freedom of the City of Vancouver.[14]
^abcOrwell, Sonia and Angus, Ian (eds.)The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 2: My Country Right or Left, pp. 210–212 (London, Penguin)
Evren, Süreyyya, and Ruth Kinna. "George Woodcock: The Ghost Writer of Anarchism 1." Anarchist Studies 23.1 (2015): 45–61.
Adams, Matthew S. "Memory, History, and Homesteading: George Woodcock, Herbert Read, and Intellectual Networks 1." Anarchist Studies 23.1 (2015): 86–104.
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