Timeline of Canadian poetry

by George J. Dance

This Timeline of Canadian poetry contains the significant events in the history of Canadian poetry in English (and selected events in the history of Canadian poetry in French), mostly first publications of books, from the beginning until 2010. The list has been limited to 3 books per year.

17th century
1628: First published poetry written in Canada: Quodlibets / Robert Hayman, governor of Newfoundland

18th century
1786: Hymns and Spiritual Songs / Henry Alline

1788: First poem published in Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia: Annapolis-Royal (pamphlet) / Roger Viets

1789: Abram's Plains / Thomas Cary

1791: Quebec Hill; or, Canadian scenery / J. Mackay

1811-1820
1816: Talbot Road: A poem / Adam Hood Burwell

1821-1830
1825: First publication of a Canadian-born author: The Rising Village / Oliver Goldsmith

1828: Tecumseh / John Richardson

1829: Quebec, The Harp, and other poems / William Fitz Hawley

1830: First poetry collection by a French-Canadian published in Canada: Épîtres, satires, chansons, épigrammes et autres pièces de vers / Michel Bibaud
 * The Huron Chief, and other poems / Adam Kidd
 * Kensington Gardens in 1830 / John Richardson

1831-1840
1831: The Unknown; or, Lays of the forest / William Fitz Hawley

1834: The Rising Village, with other poems / Oliver Goldsmith

1838: Literary Garland founded (published through 1851)

1841-1850
1843: Miscellaneous Poems / George William Gillespie

1846: The Spirit of Love, and other poems / Alexander McLachlan 1850: The Ojibway Conquest / George Copway
 * Songs of the Wilderness / George Mountain

1851-1860
1853: poems in The Frontier Missionary / Jacob Bailey

1855: Sonnets / Charles Heavysege

1856: Poems / Alexander McLachlan


 * The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay, and other poems / Charles Sangster

1857: Saul: A drama in verse / Charles Heavysege

1858: Canadian Ballads, and occasional verses / Thomas D'Arcy McGee
 * Lyrics / Alexander McLachlan

1860: Songs of Life / Edward Hartley Dewart
 * Hesperus, and other poems and lyrics / Charles Sangster


 * The Loyal Verses / Joseph Stansbury & Jonathan Odell

1861-1870
1861: The Emigrant, and other poems / Alexander McLachlan

1863: Voices from the Hearth / Isidore G. Ascher

1864: First Canadian poetry anthology: Selections from Canadian Poets / edited by Edward Hartley Dewart
 * The Dark Huntsman: A dream / Charles Heavysege

1865: Jephthah's Daughter / Charles Heavysege

1868: first poetry book published in British Columbia: Sawney's Letters; or, Cariboo rhymes / James Anderson
 * Dreamland, and other poems / Charles Mair

1869: The Poems / Thomas D'Arcy McGee
 * Hymns, and other verses / Joseph Scriven

1871-1880
1873: Thomson's Turkey, and other Christmas tales, poems, etc. / John Arthur Phillips

1874: Poems and Essays / Joseph Howe

1879: The Prophecy of Merlin, and other poems / John Reade

1880: Orion, and other poems / Charles G.D. Roberts

1881-1890
1881: Canadian Idylls / William Kirby 1884: The Emigrant Mechanic, and other tales in verse / Thomas Cowherd
 * Poetical Works / Rosanna Leprohon
 * Poems of the Heart and Home / Pamelia Vining Yule
 * Old Spookses' Pass, Malcolm's Katie, and other poems / Isabella Valancy Crawford

1885: Justin, and other poems / Frederick George Scott
 * Musings on the Bank of Canadian Thames / James McIntyre

1886: Tecumseh: A drama; and Canadian poems / Charles Mair 1887: Lyrics on Freedom, Love, and Death / George Frederick Cameron 1888: Snowflakes and Sunbeams William Wilfred Campbell 1889: Songs of the Great Dominion (anthology) / edited by William Douw Lighthall 1891: The Men of the Northern Zone / Robert Kirkland Kernighan
 * In Divers Tones / Charles G.D. Roberts
 * Laura Secord, the heroine of 1812: A drama; and other poems] / Sarah Anne Curzon
 * Thoughts, Moods, and Ideals: Crimes of leisure / William Douw Lighthall
 * Among the Millet, and other poems / Archibald Lampman
 * The Soul's Quest, and other poems / Frederick George Scott
 * Lake Lyrics, and other poems / William Wilfred Campbell]
 * first poetry book published in Saskatchewan: Eos: An epic of the dawn; and other poems / Nicholas Flood Davin
 * Poems / Sophia Almon Hensley

1891-1900
1891: The White Canoe, and other poems / Alan Sullivan 1892: Additional Poems / Edward Hartley Dewart
 * Pine, Rose, and Fleur de Lis / Seranus
 * Poems Grave and Gay / Albert E.S. Smythe

1893: The Dread Voyage Poems / William Wilfred Campbell 1894: Low Tide on Grand Pre, and other poems / Bliss Carman 1895: The White Wampum / Pauline Johnson 1896: The Book of the Native / Charles G.D. Roberts 1897: The Habitant, and other French-Canadian poems / William Henry Drummond 1898: By the Aurelian Wall, and other elegies / Bliss Carman 1899: Milestones: A collection of verses / Frances Bannerman 1900: Beyond the Hills of Dream / William Wilfred Campbell
 * Songs of the Common Day / Charles G.D. Roberts
 * The Magic House, and other poems / Duncan Campbell Scott
 * My Lattice, and other poems / Frederick George Scott
 * Watchers of Twilight, and other poem / Arthur Stringer
 * Lyrics of Earth / Archibald Lampman
 * Beside the Narraguagas, and other poems / Arthur John Lockhart
 * Matins / Francis Sherman
 * In Memorabilia Mortis / Francis Sherman
 * At Minas Basin, and other poems / Theodore Harding Rand
 * The Unnamed Lake, and other poems / Frederick George Scott
 * In the Shadows / Pauline Johnson
 * Labour and the Angel / Duncan Campbell Scott
 * Lays of the 'True North', and other Canadian poems / Agnes Maule Machar
 * Northland Lyrics / William Carman Roberts, Theodore Goodridge Roberts, & Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald
 * The Poems of Archibald Lampman / Archibald Lampman

1901-1910
1901: Johnnie Courteau, and other poems / William Henry Drummond

1902: In Many Keys: A book of verse / John Wilson Bengough 1903: From the Green Book of the Bards / Bliss Carman 1904: :Sappho: One hundred lyrics / Bliss Carman 1905: From the Book of Valentines / Bliss Carman 1906: The Cornflower, and other poems / Jean Blewett 1907: The Prodigal, and other poems / Peter McArthur 1908: Poetical Tragedies / William Wilfred Campbell 1909: The Amber Army, and other poems / William Talbot Allison 1910: In That New World Which is the Old / George A. Mackenzie
 * Flower Legends, and other poems / Alma Frances McCollum
 * Tangled in Stars / Ethelwyn Wetherald
 * Canadian Born / Pauline Johnson
 * The Book of the Rose / Charles G.D. Roberts
 * New World Lyrics and Ballads / Duncan Campbell Scott
 * The Radiant Road / Ethelwyn Wetherald
 * The Poems of Wilfred Campbell / William Wilfred Campbell
 * Collected Poems / Isabella Valency Crawford
 * Songs and Sonnets / Helena Coleman
 * The Lotus of the Nile, and other poems / Arthur Wentworth Eaton
 * Songs of a Sourdough / Robert Service
 * The Last Robin: Lyrics and sonnets / Ethelwyn Wetherald
 * The Wing of the Wild-Bird, and other poems / Albert Durrant Watson
 * Lonesome Bar, A romance of the lost, and other poems / Tom McInnes
 * The Many-Mansioned House, and other poems / E.W. Thomson
 * In Amber Lands / Tom McInnes
 * Derby Day in the Yukon, and other poems of the Northland / "Yukon Bill" (Kate Simpson Hayes)

1911-1920
1911: Songs of the Makers of Canada, and other homeland lyrics / J.D. Logan 1912: Poetical Works / William Henry Drummond 1913: Oxford Book of Canadian Verse / edited by William Wilfred Campbell 1914: Gray Knitting, and other poems / Katherine Hale 1915: John McCrae composes "In Flanders Fields"
 * Prairie Born, and other poems / Robert J.C. Stead
 * Songs of the Prairie / Robert J.C. Stead
 * In Northern Skies, and other poems / Seranus
 * Rhymes of a Rolling Stone / Robert Service
 * Flint and Feather: The complete poems / Pauline Johnson
 * The Drift of Pinions / Marjorie Pickthall
 * The Miracle, and other poerms / Virna Sheard
 * Drawn Shutters / Beatrice Redpath
 * Open Water / Arthur Stringer
 * First university course on Canadian literature: J.D. Logan, Acadia University
 * Sandpipers, and other poems / Helen M. Merrill
 * His Lady of the Sonnets / Robert Norwood
 * The Gates of Time, and other poems / Frederick George Scott

1916: Canadian Poets (anthology) / edited by John Garvin 1917: Marching Men: War verses / Helena Coleman 1918: The Fighting Men of Canada / Douglas Durkin 1919: Canadian Singers and their Songs (anthology) / edited by Edmund S. Caswell 1920: The Beckoning Skyline, and other poems / James Lewis Milligan
 * The Lamp of Poor Souls, and other poems / Marjorie Pickthall
 * Lundy's Lane, and other poems / Duncan Campbell Scott
 * Rhymes of a Red Cross Man / Robert Service
 * Irish Lyrics and Ballads /James B. Dollard
 * A Canadian Twilight, and other poems of war and peace / Bernard Freeman Trotter
 * Heart of the Hills: Poems / Albert Durrant Watson
 * Vimy Ridge, and new poems / Alfred Gordon
 * Sea Dogs and Men at Arms: A book of Canadian songs / J. Edgar Middleton
 * Poems: Lyrics and sonnets / Ethelwyn Wetherald
 * Brookfield, and other verse / William E. Marshall
 * In Flanders Fields, and other poems / John McCrae

1921-1930
1921: Canadian Authors Association founded 1922: Fires of Driftwood / Isabel Ecclestone Mackay 1923: Isabella Valancy Crawford / Isabella Valancy Crawford 1924: When Half Gods Go, and other poems Norah M. Holland 1925: Montreal Group founds McGill Fortnightly Review (published until 1927) 1926: Later Poems / Bliss Carman 1927: My Pocket Beryl / Mary Josephine Benson 1928: Green Pitcher / Dorothy Livesay 1929: Collected Poems / Isidore G. Ascher 1930: The Roosevelt and the Antinoe / E.J. Pratt
 * Beauty and Life / Duncan Campbell Scott
 * Ballads of a Bohemian / Robert Service
 * Collected Poems / Thomas O'Hagan
 * Poems / Frank Prewett
 * Shepherd's Purse, and other poems / Florence Randal Livesay
 * Newfoundland Verse / E.J. Pratt
 * In a Far Land / Martha Ostenso
 * Far Horizons / Bliss Carman
 * The Sweet o' the Year, and other poems / Charles G.D. Roberts
 * Songs of Love and Labour / Seranus
 * Out of the Wilderness / Wilson MacDonald
 * Candle Flame / Virna Sheard
 * The Iron Door: An ode / E.J. Pratt
 * The Vagrant of Time / Charles G.D. Roberts
 * Later Poems and New Villanelles / Seranus
 * Sanctuary: The Sunshine House sonnets / Bliss Carman
 * Wild Garden / Bliss Carman
 * Laconics / W.W.E. Ross

1931-1940
1931: A Flagon of Beauty / Wilson MacDonald

1932: Signpost / Dorothy Livesay 1933: The Shrouding / Leo Kennedy 1934: The Island, and other poems / Katherine Hale 1935: The Titanic / E.J. Pratt 1936: New Provinces (anthology) 1937: Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama first awarded
 * The Naiad, and other poems / Marjorie Pickthall
 * Sonnets / W.W.E. Ross
 * Selected Poems / Frederick George Scott
 * Penelope, and other poems / Seranus
 * The Iceberg, and other poems / Charles G.D. Roberts
 * The Leather Bottle / Theodore Goodridge Roberts
 * The Green Cloister: Later poems / Duncan Campbell Scott
 * Complete Poems / Francis Sherman
 * Regard et jeux dans l'espace / Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau
 * Complete Poems (2nd edition) / Marjorie Pickthall

1938: By Stubborn Stars / Kenneth Leslie
 * Songs / Helena Coleman
 * The Fable of the Goats, and other poems / E.J. Pratt
 * I Sing of Life: Selected poems / Lloyd Roberts

1939: The White Bird, and other poems / Gertrude Bartlett 1940: Hath Not a Jew...? / A.M. Klein
 * Under the Sun / Arthur S. Bourinot
 * The Wind Our Enemy / Anne Marriott
 * Brebeuf and His Brethren / E.J. Pratt

1941-1950
1941: Calling Adventurers / Anne Marriott

1942: Anthology of Canadian Poetry / edited by Ralph Gustafson 1943: At the Long Sault, and other new poems / Archibald Lampman
 * David, and other poems / Earle Birney
 * Saltmarsh / Anne Marriott
 * Still Life, and other verse / E.J. Pratt
 * News of the Phoenix, and other poems / A.J.M. Smith

1944: Unit of Five (anthology)
 * Day and Night / Dorothy Livesay

1945: Now is Time / Earle Birney 1946: East of the City / Louis Dudek
 * Here and Now / Irving Layton
 * Overture: Poems / F.R. Scott
 * Poems / Robert Finch

1947: Selected Poems / Archibald Lampman
 * As Ten, as Twenty / P.K. Page
 * Poems for People / Dorothy Livesay

1948: The Rocking Chair, and other poems / A.M. Klein
 * Behind the Log / E.J. Pratt

1949: Collected Poems / Raymond Knister 1950: The Flute, and other poems / Katherine Hale
 * The Red Heart / James Reaney
 * Poésies Complètes: Regards et jeux dans l'espace; Les solitudes / Hector de Saint Denys Garneau
 * Of Time and the Lover / James Wreford

1951-1960
1951: The Mulgrave Road / Charles Bruce

1952: Trial of a City, and other poems / Earle Birney
 * The Black Huntsman / Irving Layton
 * Selected Poems / Duncan Campbell Scott
 * Cerberus / Louis Dudek, Irving Layton, & Raymond Souster
 * Toward the Last Spike / E.J. Pratt

1953: Love the Conqueror Worm / Irving Layton


 * The Net and the Sword / Douglas LePan

1954: Europe / Louis Dudek
 * The Metal and the Flower / P.K. Page

1955: The Blue Propellor / Irving Layton
 * A Sort of Ecstasy / A.J.M. Smith
 * New Poems / Dorothy Livesay
 * Friday's Child / Wilfred Watson

1956: Let Us Compare Mythologies / Leonard Cohen 1957: Selected Poems, 1926-1956 / Dorothy Livesay 1958: Penguin Book of Canadian Verse / edited by Ralph Gustafson
 * The Bull Calf, and other poems / Irving Layton
 * Experiment, 1923-1929 / W.W.E. Ross
 * The Boatman, and other poems / Jay Macpherson
 * The Lake of Souls, and other poems / Harold Standish
 * En Mexico / Louis Dudek


 * A Lattice for Momos / R.G. Everson
 * A Suit of Nettles / James Reaney

1959: The Cruising Auk / George Johnston 1960: Oxford Book of Canadian Verse, in English and French / edited by A.J.M. Smith
 * A Red Carpet for the Sun / Irving Layton
 * Winter Sun / Margaret Avison
 * Poemes / Anne Hébert

1961-1970
1961: The Spice Box of Earth / Leonard Cohen 1962: Poems for All the Annettes / Al Purdy 1963: Sepass Tales: The songs of Y-Ail-Mihth / K'HHalserten Sepass 1964: Flowers for Hitler / Leonard Cohen
 * Acis in Oxford, and other poems / Robert Finch
 * Collected Poems / A.J.M. Smith
 * Balls for a One-Armed Juggler / Irving Layton
 * The Rising Fire / Gwendolyn MacEwen

1965: The Wooden Horse / Daryl Hine 1966: League of Canadian Poets founded 1967: Bread, Wine, and Salt / Alden Nowlan 1968: The Animals in that Country / Margaret Atwood 1969: The Gangs of Kosmos / George Bowering 1970: The Journals of Susanna Moodie / Margaret Atwood
 * The Colour of the Times / Raymond Souster
 * Collected Poems / Irving Layton
 * The Cariboo Horses / Al Purdy
 * The Circle Game / Margaret Atwood
 * Parasites of Heaven / Leonard Cohen
 * The Glass Trumpet / Miriam Waddington
 * Cry Ararat! Poems new and selected / P.K. Page
 * Poems: New and collected / A.J.M. Smith
 * Selected Poems, 1956-1968 / Leonard Cohen
 * The Documentaries: Selected longer poems / Dorothy Livesay
 * Rocky Mountain Foot / George Bowering
 * The Shadowmaker / Gwendolyn MacEwen
 * Selected Poems, 1920-1970 / R.G. Everson
 * The Collected Works of Billy the Kid / Michael Ondaatje

1971-1980
1971: Collected Poetry / Louis Dudek 1972: The Energy of Slaves / Leonard Cohen 1973: Power Politics / Margaret Atwood 1974: Fire on Stone / Ralph Gustafson 1975 - The Island Means Minago / Milton Acorn 1976 - Lampman's Sonnets / Archibald Lampman 1977 - Hugh and Ion / Isabella Valancy Crawford 1978 - sunblue / Margaret Avison 1979: Empire, York St. / Erin Mouré
 * Selected Poems / John Glassco
 * The Poems of Kenneth Leslie / Kenneth Leslie
 * Civil Elegies, and other poems / Dennis Lee
 * Lies / John Newlove
 * Lovers and Lesser Men / Irving Layton
 * Lions at Her Face / Miriam Mandel
 * Sex and Death / Al Purdy
 * Welcoming Disaster: Poems, 1970-1974 / Jay Macpherson
 * Selected Poems / Louis Dudek
 * Resident Alien / Daryl Hine
 * For My Brother Jesus / Irving Layton
 * Top Soil / Joe Rosenblatt
 * Under the Thunder the Flowers Light up the Earth / D.G. Jones
 * The Poems of Irving Layton / Irving Layton
 * Death of a Lady's Man / Leonard Cohen
 * Poems New and Selected / Patrick Lane
 * There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to Do: Poems, 1963-1978 / Michael Ondaatje
 * Countryside Canada / James Wreford

1980 - Selected Poems / Daryl Hine
 * McAlman's Chinese Opera / Stephen Scobie

1981-1990
1981: Governor General's Award for English language poetry first awarded 1982: New Oxford Book of Canadian Verse in English / edited by Margaret Atwood 1983: Snake Poems / Margaret Atwood
 * True Stories / Margaret Atwood
 * Collected Poems / F.R. Scott
 * Earth-Light: Selected poetry, 1963-1982 / Gwendolyn MacEwen
 * The Vision Tree: Selected poems / Phyllis Webb

1984: Interlunar / Margaret Atwood 1985: Canadian Poetry Association founded 1986: The Night the Dog Smiled / John Newlove 1987: Weathering It: Complete poems, 1948-1987 / Douglas LePan 1988: Furious / Erin Mouré 1989: No Time / Margaret Avison 1990: Selected Poems / A.M. Klein
 * Settlements / David Donnell
 * Book of Mercy / Leonard Cohen
 * Celestial Navigation / Paulette Jiles
 * The Glass Air: Poems selected and new / P.K. Page
 * Powassan's Drum: Selected poems / Duncan Campbell Scott
 * Waiting for Saskatchewan / Fred Wah
 * Collcte Poems / Al Purdy
 * Afterworlds / Gwendolyn MacEwen
 * That Far River: Selected poems / Theodore Goodridge Roberts
 * The Word for Sand / Heather Spears
 * Selected Poetry / Archibald Lampman
 * Far Voyages / Douglas LePan

1991-2000
1991: Night Field / Don McKay 1992: Inventing the Hawk / Lorna Crozier
 * The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected poems / Michael Ondaatje
 * I Dream Myself into Being: Collected poems / John Thompson

1993: Stranger Music: Selected poems and songs / Leonard Cohen 1994: Cantos from a Small Room / Robert Hilles 1995: Morning in the Burned House / Margaret Atwood
 * Forests of the Medeival World / Don Coles
 * Hologram: A book of glosas / P.K. Page
 * Naked with Summer in Your Mouth / Al Purdy

1996: Apostrophes: Woman at a piano / E.D. Blodgett
 * Voice / Anna Szumigalski
 * One Leaf Shaking: Collected poems, 1977-1990 / Robin Skelton

1997: Not Yet But Still / Margaret Avison 1998: Eating Fire: Selected poetry, 1965-1995 / Margaret Atwood 1999: Songs for Relinquishing the Earth / Jan Zwicky
 * Land to Light On / Dionne Brand
 * The Hidden Room: Collected poems / P.K. Page
 * White Stone: The Alice poems / Stephanie Bolster
 * Archive for our Time: Previously uncollected and unpublished poems / Dorothy Livesay

2000: Another Gravity / Don McKay
 * Beyond Remembering: Collected poems / Al Purdy

2001-2010
2001: Griffin Poetry Prize first awarded 2002: Eunoia / Christian Bök
 * Nine Visits to the Mythworld / Robert Bringhurst
 * Men in the Off Hours / Anne Carson
 * Execution Poems / George Elliott Clarke
 * Surrender / Roy Miki

2003: Concrete and Wild Carrot / Margaret Avison
 * Short Haul Engine / Karen Solie
 * Kill-site / Tim Lilburn

2004: Short Journey Upriver toward Oishida / Roo Borson 2005: Changing on the Fly / George Bowering
 * Planet Earth: Poems selected and new / P.K. Page
 * Go-Go Dancing for Elvis / Leslie Greentree
 * Loop / Anne Simpson
 * Processional / Anne Compton

2006: Book of Longing: Poems and drawings / Leonard Cohen
 * Dritt / Kevin Connolly
 * Nerve Squall / Sylvia Legris
 * Stumbling in the Bloom / John Pass

2007: All Our Wonder Unavenged / Don Domanski

2008: The Holy Forest: Collected poems / Robin Blaser
 * Strike / Slip / Don McKay
 * Ontological Necessitie / Priscila Uppal
 * Why Are You So Sad? Selected Poems / David McFadden
 * More to Keep Us Warm / Jacob Scheier

2009: Crabwise to the Hounds / Jeramy Dodds
 * The Sentinel / A.F. Moritz
 * The Fly in Autumn / David Zieroth

2010: Modern Canadian Poets: An anthology of poems in English / edited by Todd Swift & Evan Jones
 * Boxing the Compass / Richard Greene
 * Pigeon / Karen Solie