Gwladys Downes has worked in three areas: original poetry, translations, and criticism. The daughter of Gordon Downes and Doris Gwendoline Bywater-Jones Downes, she was born in Victoria, British Columbia, on 22 April 1915. After receiving her elementary and secondary education in Oak Bay and studying for one year at Victoria College (now University of Victoria), Downes received a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in 1934 and an M.A. in 1940. During the 1930s she also earned teaching diplomas from the University of British Columbia and the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1953 Downes was granted a doctoral degree from the Sorbonne, writing her dissertation on Paul Valéry.

As well as teaching at Duncan High School in British Columbia from 1936 to 1939, Downes has served on the faculties of the English and French departments at the University of British Columbia (1940-1941; 1946-1949) and the University of Victoria (1951-1978). She has...