David McFadden

by George Dance

David William McFadden (b. October 11, 1940) is a Canadian poet, and fiction and travel writer.

Life
McFadden was born in and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He began writing poetry as a teenager, and was publishing in literary magazines (and corresponding with Jack Kerouac) while still in high school.

He began working for the Hamilton Spectator as a proofreader, eventually becoming a reporter. During the same time he published his own literary magazine, Mountain, and wrote several volumes of poetry plus his first novel, ''The Great Canadian Sonnet. In 1976 he quit the newspaper to work as a freelance writer and editor.

He was writer in residence at Simon Fraser University in 1979, and instructor writing at David Thompson University Centre from 1979 to 1982.

McFadden has also served on the editorial board of Coach House Press, and as a contributing editor for SwiftCurrent and Canadian Art Magazine. He wrote a regular monthly column for Quill and Quire for two years, and one for Hamilton This Month for three years).

Two of his collections, Gypsy Guitar and The Art of Darkness, were nominated for the Governor General's Award. His 2007 selected poems, Why are You so Sad?, were shortlisted for the 2008 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Writing
The Canadian Encyclopedia says of McFadden's work: "Through irony, self-parody and mock ingenuousness, McFadden's writing illuminates conflicts between the ordinary citizen and an increasingly surreal and commercial society. His most noteworthy books are the mock picaresque novel A Trip Around Lake Erie (1980) and selected poems, My Body was Eaten by Dogs (1981).

Wikipedia says that "McFadden's poetry critiques the commercialism and shallowness of modern society. His work, with its overt humour, poignant reflections on contemporary urban life, and interest in the mistakes of the imagination, reveals an affinity with Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery and the New York School of the 1950s, as well as the Beat writers of the 1960s--Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti most obviously. His work, however, remains distinctly Canadian in subject matter, setting and personality."

His book of 100 Baudelaire-inspired prose poems, Gypsy Guitar, was called "Everyone's favourite book of poems" by George Bowering.

Poetry

 * The Poem Poem. Kitchener, Ontario: Weed/Flower Press, 1967.
 * Letters from the Earth to the Earth. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1968.
 * Poems Worth Knowing. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1971.
 * Intense Pleasure. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1972.
 * The Ova Yogas. Toronto: Weed/Flower Press, 1972.
 * The Poet's Progress. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1977.
 * A Knight in Dried Plums. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1975.
 * The Saladmaker. Montreal: Cross Country Press, 1977.
 * I Don't Know. Montreal: Vehicule Press, 1978.
 * On the Road Again. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1978.
 * A New Romance. Montreal: Cross Country Press, 1979.
 * My Body Was Eaten By Dogs: Selected Poems of David McFadden. Ed. George Bowering. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1981.
 * Country of the Open Heart. Edmonton: Longspoon Press, 1982.
 * Three Stories and Ten Poems. Toronto: Prototype, 1982. (fiction and poetry)
 * A Pair of Baby Lambs. Toronto: Front Press, 1983
 * The Art of Darkness. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1984.
 * The Poetry of Our Age. Toronto: Letters, 1986.
 * Gypsy Guitar: One Hundred Poems of Romance and Betrayal. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1987.
 * Anonymity Suite. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1992.
 * There'll Be Another. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1995.
 * Five Star Planet. Vancouver: TalonBooks, 2002
 * Cow Swims Lake Ontario. Toronto: BookThug Press, 2003.
 * Why Are You So Sad? Selected Poems of David W. McFadden - 2007 (shortlisted for the 2008 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize)
 * Be Calm, Honey: 129 sonnets. Toronto : Mansfield Press, c2008.
 * Why Are You So Long & Sweet? Collected Long Poems of David W. McFadden - 2009

Fiction

 * The Great Canadian Sonnet. drawn by Greg Curnoe. Toronto: Coach House, 1970.
 * The great Canadian sonnet: compleat in one volume / story by David McFadden; drawn by Greg Curnoe. Rev. ed. Toronto : Coach House Books, c.2001.
 * Animal Spirits: Stories to Live By. Drawings by Greg Curnoe. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1983.
 * Canadian Sunset. Windsor, Ontario: Black Moss Press, 1986. (fiction)

Travel

 * A Trip Around Lake Huron. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1980.
 * A Trip Around Lake Erie - 1980
 * A Trip Around Lake Ontario. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1988.
 * An Innocent in Ireland: Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1995.
 * Great Lakes Suite. Vancouver: TalonBooks, 1997. (Includes A Trip around Lake Erie, A Trip around Lake Huron, and A Trip around Lake Ontario - compleat in one volume)
 * An Innocent in Scotland. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1999.
 * An Innocent in Newfoundland. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2003.
 * An Innocent in Cuba: further curious rambles and singular encounters. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2005,

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy of University of Toronto.