"[2] The Canadian Encyclopedia declares that: "Publication of Watson's novel The Double Hook (1959) marks the start of contemporary writing in Canada.
"[4] In 1957 Watson began doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, writing her thesis on Wyndham Lewis under the direction of Marshall McLuhan.
Supporters such as ... McLuhan, as well as Yale formalist Cleanth Brooks, saw it as a literary landmark ushering the Canadian novel out of its regional confines.
"In Edmonton the Watsons became part of an active circle of writers and established the literary magazine,The White Pelican in 1970 along with Douglas Barbour, Stephen Scobie, John Orrell, Dorothy Livesay, and artist Norman Yates.
[3] White Pelican Publications published Lions at her Face, the first book by Miriam Mandel, which won the Governor General's Award in 1973.
"[7] "The Double Hook presents in concise, symbolic terms a drama of social disintegration and redemption, set in an isolated BC community....
"Deep Hollow Creek treats many of the same themes" as The Double Hook "in a manner which is more direct and conventional, but no less elliptical and challenging.
"[3] In the 1950s Watson published three interlinked stories, and a fourth in 1970, dealing with the family of Sophocles' Oedipus in a contemporary, realistic setting.
[3] The third epigraph of Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood's 2000 novel The Blind Assassin reads: The word is a flame burning in a dark glass.
– Sheila WatsonAccording to Nathalie Cooke, this is from Deep Hollow Creek, and it announces Atwood's third dominant theme, the power of the word itself.
[7] The collection contains Watson's journals, letters and photographs, as well as papers relating to her editorial work in White Pelican.