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by George J. Dance

Bertalmonw

Bert Almon. Courtesy Olive Reading Series in Edmonton.

Bert L. Almon
Born 1943
Port Arthur, Texas
Citizenship Canada Canadian
Education Ph.D.
Alma mater U of Texas, U of New Mexico
Period 1967-
Notable award(s) City of Edmonton, Writers Guild of Alberta
Spouse(s) Olga Costopolous
Children 4

Bert L. Almon (born 1943) is a Canadian poet originally from the United States. He is a 2-time winner of the Writers Guild of Alberta Award for Poetry, and has also won the City of Edmonton Book Award.

Life[]

Bert

Courtesy Tandem.

Almon was born in Port Arthur, Texas, "during a hurricane."[1]

He earned a B.A. in 1965 from the University of Texas at El Paso,[1] and an M.A. in 1967 and Ph.D. in 1971 from the University of New Mexico.[2] His Ph.D. dissertation was the first ever on Beat poet Gary Snyder.[1]

Almon began writing poetry in 1967. In 1968 he came to Canada, and began teaching creative writing and modern literature at the University of Alberta. More than 30 of his creative writing students have since gone on to publish books of poetry.[1]

He has written a critical biography of William Humphrey. He has also published essays on Humphrey, Richard Bausch, Mary Karr, Pat Mora, Li-Young Lee, C.D. Wright, Frank Conroy, Eva Hoffman, and Naomi Shihab Nye for the Scribner's American Writers Series.[2]

His poetry has appeared in such journals as The Fiddlehead, Malahat Review, Grain, Prairie Fire, Descant, Prism international, and Queen's Quarterly.[3]

Almon has become a Canadian citizen. He is married to poet Olga Costopoulos; they have 4 children.[1]

Recognition[]

Almon has been both a Hawthornden Fellow in Poetry, and a finalist in the Blackwell's/Times Literary Supplement Poetry Competition. He won the Writers' Guild of Alberta Award for poetry in 1998 for Earth Prime.[1] His newest collection, 2007's A Ghost in Waterloo Station, won the City of Edmonton Book Award,[4] and the 2008 Writers Guild of Alberta Award for poetry.[5]

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • The Return, and other poems. Los Cerrillos, NM: San Marcos Press, 1968.
  • Taking Possession: Poems. San Luis Obispo, CA: Solo Press, 1976.
  • Poems for the Nuclear Family. Los Cerrillos, NM: San Marcos Press, 1979.
  • Blue Sunrise. Saskatoon, SK: Thistledown Press, 1980.
  • Deep North. Saskatoon, SK: Thistledown Press, 1984.
  • Calling Texas. Saskatoon, SK: Thistledown Press, 1990.
  • Earth Prime. London, ON: Brick Books, 1994.
  • Mind the Gap. Victoria, BC: Ekstasis Editions, 1996.
  • A Ghost in Waterloo Station. Victoria, BC: Brindle & Glass, 2007.
  • Waiting for the Gulf Stream. Regina, SK: Hagios Press, 2012.

Non-fiction[]

Bert_Almon_reads_from_Earth_Prime_(Brick_Books)

Bert Almon reads from Earth Prime (Brick Books)


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[6]

See also[]

References[]

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 " Bert Almon: Biography," Canadian Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, June 6, 2011.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Bert L. Almon," MyProfile.cos.com, Web, June 8, 2011.
  3. "Bert Almon," Brick Books, Web, June 8, 2011.
  4. Todd Swift, "Poem by Bert Almon," Eyewear, May 30, 2008, Blogspot.com, Web, June 8, 2011.
  5. " Bert Almon: Awards and Honours," Canadian Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, June 6, 2011.
  6. Searech results = au:Bert Almon, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 26, 2017.

External links[]

Poems
Prose
Books
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