Talk:Louis Alexander MacKay

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. Track your hook after promotion. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Dclemens1971 (talk) 18:05, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

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• Comment or view
• Article history

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• ... that Canadian writer Louis Alexander MacKay became a successful poet while teaching ancient Greek and Roman poetry at university?

• Source: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Canadian_Poetry_1920_to_1960/5YgppDd6JQcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=louis%20alexander%20mckay%20berkeley&pg=PA209&printsec=frontcover (mentions his study of Roman poets and his book about the Greek poet Homer)

• • ALT1 ... that one critic called Louis Alexander MacKay the "most angry and clever satirist" in Canada?

• • Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20582520

• • ALT2 ... that Canadian satirist Louis Alexander MacKay became a scholar of ancient Greek and Roman poetry?

• • Source: MacKay is called a satirist in https://www.jstor.org/stable/20582520 and page 85 of Trehearne (1989) Aestheticism and the Canadian Modernists: Aspects of a Poetic Influence

• • Reviewed:

Created by Edward056686 (talk). Number of QPQs required: 0. Nominator has fewer than 5 past nominations.

Edward056686 (talk) 07:00, 15 June 2026 (UTC).

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems
Adequate sourcing: Neutral: Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation
Cited: Interesting:

QPQ: None required.

Overall: Expanded on the 13th of June and nominated on the 15th. The article look great, I bet it'll pass GA. Out of all the hooks, I think ALT1 is the most "Interesting", so I'll approve that one. Great work! 1timeuse75 (talk) 15:37, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

GA review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Louis Alexander MacKay/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Edward056686 (talk · contribs) 04:14, 14 June 2026 (UTC)

Reviewer: MSincccc (talk · contribs) 06:20, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose, spelling, grammar, and understandability): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable, as shown by a source spot-check.

   a (reference section): b (inline citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free content have non-free use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

Images

• File:UniversityofToronto1930.png-It needs a US-PD tag.
  • Fixed.
• Is it possible to include an image of MacKay in the article? No worries if not.
  • I can't find a free photo of him or many photos at all.

That's all for the images. MSincccc (talk) 05:16, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

Source-to-text spot check

• 1- Done
• 3- Done
• 5- Done
• 16- Done
• 17- Done
• 18- Done
• MacKay wrote Modernist poetry,[17] which focused especially on the poet's relationship to time. Could you please share the text which supports the fact that the style "focused especially on the poet's relationship to time"?
  • page 43 talks about the focus of Canadian modernists like MacKay. The younger poets - [list that includes MacKay]- apparently gave assent to Smith's dictum that Canadian poets ought to pay more attention to their position in time, less to their position in space. The line in the article was ambiguous, so I have changed it to something that better reflects the source page.

@Edward056686: That's all for the spot check. The prose comments to follow. MSincccc (talk) 05:54, 3 July 2026 (UTC)

Early life and education

• "was born in Hensall, Ontario on February 27, 1901," → "was born in Hensall, Ontario, on February 27, 1901," (missing comma)
  • Y
• "Victoria College, University of Toronto between 1923 and 1925" → "Victoria College, University of Toronto, between 1923 and 1925" (missing comma)
  • Y
• "Balliol College, Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship in 1924" → "Balliol College, Oxford, on a Rhodes Scholarship in 1924" (missing comma)
  • Y

Career

• "taught Latin at University of Toronto" → "taught Latin at the University of Toronto" (missing definite article)
  • Y
• "In the book, MacKay argues that the Iliad was based on two originally unconnected legendary cycles;" → "In the book, MacKay argues that the Iliad was based on two originally unconnected legendary cycles:" (semicolon)
  • Y
• "who he identifies as an Ionian poet that lived during the 8th century BC." → "whom he identifies as an Ionian poet who lived during the 8th century BC." (who/whom error + “that” for person)
  • Y
• "MacKay left the University of British Columbia to become professor of Latin at University of California, Berkeley." → "MacKay left the University of British Columbia to become a professor of Latin at University of California, Berkeley." (missing article)
  • Y
• "MacKay was the chair of the Classics Department at University of California, Berkeley from 1949 to 1953." → "MacKay was chair of the Classics Department at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1949 to 1953." (missing article + comma)

Retirement and death

• "He was visiting professor at University of Toronto from 1968 to 1969 and at University of Washington in 1970." → "He was a visiting professor at the University of Toronto from 1968 to 1969 and at University of Washington in 1970." (missing articles)
  • Y
• "He died in Berkeley, California on June 24, 1982." → "He died in Berkeley, California, on June 24, 1982." (missing comma)
  • Y

Lead

• "He taught Latin at University of Toronto from 1928 to 1941, and at University of British Columbia from 1941 until 1948." → "He taught Latin at the University of Toronto from 1928 to 1941, and at the University of British Columbia from 1941 until 1948." (missing definite articles)
  • Y
• "In 1948, he became professor of Latin at University of California, Berkeley." → "In 1948, he became a professor of Latin at University of California, Berkeley." (missing article)
  • Y
• "After retiring from full-time teaching in 1968, he taught workshops at University of California and held visiting professorships at other universities before his death in 1982." → "After retiring from full-time teaching in 1968, he taught workshops at the University of California and held visiting professorships at other universities before his death in 1982." (missing definite article)
  • Y

Bottom line

• Edward056686 That's all for the prose. Best, MSincccc (talk) 06:06, 5 July 2026 (UTC)
  • @MSincccc: Done, thank you for reviewing this. Edward056686 (talk) 09:52, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

    Fine to proceed. MSincccc (talk) 10:16, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.