Lyall Powers

Lyall H. Powers (July 13, 1924 – May 15, 2018) was a professor of English at the University of Michigan, where he taught since 1958.^[1] He was granted emeritus status by the University's Regents during their October 1992 meeting.^[2]

Powers wrote widely on modern American authors, and with Leon Edel, edited the complete notebooks of Henry James (Oxford University Press, 1987).^[3] One of his most widely circulated books is Alien Heart (University of Manitoba Press, 2005), a biography of Canadian author Margaret Laurence. A lifelong friend of Laurence, Powers met her when they were students together in the 1940s. The book is described as "the first full-length biography of Margaret Laurence that combines personal knowledge and insights about Laurence with a study of her work".^[4]

Powers' archives are held at the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections.^[5]