Christopher Dewdney

Christopher Dewdney (born May 9, 1951) is a Canadian writer and poet.

He was born in London, Ontario, and presently lives in Toronto, where he is a professor at York University. He is the long-time partner of writer Barbara Gowdy. Winner of the 2007 Harbourfront Festival Prize, he is the author of four books of non-fiction as well as eleven books of poetry. A four-time nominee for the Governor General's Award, Dewdney won first-prize in the CBC Literary Competition for poetry. In 2005 his book, Acquainted With The Night: Excursions into the World After Dark was nominated for both a Governor General's Award and The Charles Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction, and was published in seven countries. In 2008, HarperCollins published his most recent non-fiction title, Soul of The World: Unlocking the Secrets of Time.

Dewdney is the son of Canadian artist and author Selwyn Dewdney, brother of Alexander Keewatin Dewdney, and the great-grand-nephew of Edgar Dewdney (Lieutenant-governor: British Columbia 1892—1897, Northwest Territories, 1881—1888).

Christopher Dewdney was also featured in the film Poetry in Motion.

Awards and honours

 * 1983 Finalist, Governor General's Award for Poetry (for Predators of the Adoration)
 * 1986 Winner, CBC Literary Competition for Poetry (for A Natural History of Southwestern Ontario)
 * 1986 Finalist, Governor General's Award for Poetry (for The Immaculate Perception)
 * 1988 Finalist, Governor General's Award for Poetry (for The Radiant Inventory)
 * 2004 Finalist, Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction (for Acquainted with the Night)
 * 2005 Finalist, Charles Taylor Prize (for Acquainted with the Night)
 * 2007 Harbourfront Festival Prize

Poetry

 * A Palaeozoic Geology of London, Ontario (1974) Coach House Press
 * Fovea Centralis (1975) Coach House Press
 * Alter Sublime (19800 Coach House Press
 * Predators of the Adoration (1983) McClelland and Stewart
 * The Immaculate Perception (1985) House of Anansi Press
 * Permugenisis )1987) Nightwood Editions
 * The Radiant Inventory (1988) McClelland and Stewart
 * Concordat Proviso Ascendant (A Natural History of Southwestern Ontario, book 3) (1991) The Figures, Mass
 * Demon Pond (1994) McClelland and Stewart
 * Signal Fires (including A Natural History of Southwestern Ontario, books 3 and 4) - McClelland and Stewart, 2000
 * The Natural History (2002) ECW
 * Children of the outer dark : the poetry of Christopher Dewdney (2007) Wilfrid Laurier Press

Non-fiction

 * The Secular Grail (1993) Somerville House
 * Last Flesh: Life in the Transhuman Era (1998) HarperCollins Canada ISBN 0-00-638472-2
 * Acquainted With the Night (2004) HarperCollins Canada, Bloomsbury New York, Bloomsbury London, ISBN 1-58234-396-9 (hardcover) ISBN 0-00-639164-8 (paperback)
 * Soul of The World: Unlocking the Secrets of Time (2008) HarperCollins ISBN 978-1-55468-002-3

Essays

 * "Parasite Maintenance", Open Letter series 4, no. 6-7 (Winter 1980-81)
 * "bpNichol, 1944-1988", Brick: A Journal of Reviews, Vol 34 (Fall 1988)
 * "Enigmatic Emblematic: The Internal Logic of Judith Schwarz's Sculpture", Canadian Art, Vol 6, 4 (Winter 1989)
 * "Life at the Centre", Canadian Telecom (November 1989)
 * "Power Dreams", Descant, Vol. 23, 1-2, (Spring/Summer 1992)
 * "Consciousness Projected", Descant, Vol 27, 1-2, (Spring/Summer 1996)
 * "After Deep Blue", Saturday Night, Vol 113, 3 (April 1998)