Ralph Gustafson was born in Lime Ridge, Quebec, but grew up in Sherbrook. He attended Bishop's University, earning a double honours B.A. in English and History in 1929, winning the Governor General's Medal and placing top in his class. He received an M.A. in 1930, successfully defending his thesis "The Sensuous Imagery of Shelley and Keats." He also completed a B.A. at Keble College, Oxford in 1933, an M.A. in 1963, and was awarded a D. Litt. from Mount Allison in 1973, a D.C.L. from Bishop's University in 1977, and a D. Litt from York University in 1991.
After his B.A. from Oxford, Gustafson moved to New York, where he stayed for many years and become friends with many of the members of the literary scene there, including Auden, Cummings and W.C. Williams. Gustafson's anthologies kept in clued into the Canadian literary scene and also kept him in contact with most major poets post WWII (there are several letters between Gustafson and many major Canadian writers in our collection).
Over the years, Dr. Gustafson held a number of posts. He was music master, Bishop's College School, 1920-30; teacher of English St. Alban's School for Boys, Brockville, Ontario, 1933-34; tutor and journalist, London, England, 1935-38; British Information Services, New York, N.Y., 1942-46; Professor and Poet-In-Residence, Bishop's University, 1963-79 and music critic, C.B.C., since 1960. Winner of numerous awards, including the Order of Canada in 1992 and the Governor General's Award for Poetry (for Fire on Stone, 1974), Dr. Gustafson wrote over twenty volumes of poetry and prose and edited several anthologies of verse. He died in 1995.