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bpNichol

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Bp-nichol

bpNichol (1944-1988). Photo by Linda Chayrk Rosenfeld. Courtesy Wikipedia.

Barrie Phillip Nichol (September 30, 1944 - September 25, 1988) was a Canadian poet.

Life[]

Overview[]

Nichol became widely known for his concrete poetry in the 1960s. His most famous published work is probably The Martyrology, a long poem encompassing 9 books in 6 volumes.

He also worked in a wide variety of other genres, including musical theatre, children's books, collage/assemblage, pamphlets, spoken word, computer texts, fiction, and television. For having such a brief lifespan, Nichol produced a highly prolific volume of work. 

Youth and education[]

Nichol was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

He began writing in 1961.

He received his elementary teaching certificate from the University of British Columbia in 1963, but worked only for a brief stint as a teacher. He had audited creative writing courses while in university, and his life moved in that direction after about a year of teaching.

Career[]

Bill_Bissett_and_BP_Nichol_-_1_-_Interviewed_by_Phillis_Webb

Bill Bissett and BP Nichol - 1 - Interviewed by Phillis Webb

Bill_Bissett_and_BP_Nichol_-_2_-_Interviewed_by_Phillis_Webb-0

Bill Bissett and BP Nichol - 2 - Interviewed by Phillis Webb-0

Nichol attracted public notice in the mid-1960s with his hand-drawn or "concrete" poems, and received international acclaim.

A promoter of poetry and the small press, he founded Ganglia Press in 1965 with David Aylward, and grOnk (magazine) in 1967 with bill bissett and David UU.

In 1970, he began to collaborate with fellow poets Rafael Barreto-Rivera, Paul Dutton, and Steve McCaffery, forming a sound-poetry group, The Four Horsemen.

"Earlick", a project devoted to collecting and performing songs written by Canadian writers and poets, was undertaken 1986-1988 in collaboration with Victor Coleman and Whitney Smith.

Writing[]

He was known as a manipulator of the lines between genres and a prolific Canadian word artist.

Recognition[]

A LAKE A LANE A LINE A LONE - bpNichol

Nichol poem carved into bpNichol Lane, Toronto.

Nichol's "visual book" Still water, together with the booklets The true eventual story of Billy the Kid and Beach Head as well as the anthology of concrete poetry, The cosmic chef, won the Governor General's Award for poetry.

A street in Toronto, Canada, is named in his honor. bpNichol Lane is located in the Annex district behind Coach House Books. It features an eight-line poem by Nichol carved into the pavement: "A / LAKE / A / LANE / A / LINE / A / LONE". (An employee at Coach House regularly waters the word "LAKE".)[1]

In popular culture[]

Nichol's early work in sound poetry was documented in Michael Ondaatje's film Sons of Captain Poetry (1970); in Borders, a small phonodisc included with his poetic work Journeying & the returns (1967); and in the long-playing record Motherlove (1968).

A 1998 film, bp/pushing the boundaries, was made on Nichol and his contributions to art by Brian Nash (director) and Elizabeth Yake (producer).

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • Cycles Etc. 7 Flowers Press, 1965.
  • Scraptures: second sequence. Ganglia Press, 1965.
  • Cold Mountain. Singing Hands Series 3. 1966.
  • Journeying & the returns. 1967.[2]
  • bp. (Box includes Journeying & the returns (book), Letters Home (loose visual poems), Borders (record), Wild Thing (flip book), and “Statement” printed on the back of the box. Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1967.
  • Konfessions of an Elizabethan Fan Dancer . London,: Writer’s Forum, 1967
    • revised edition. Toronto: Weed/Flower Press, 1973.
    • revised edition (with an introduction by Nelson Ball). Toronto, ON: Coach House, 2004.
  • Ballads of the Restless Are (chapbook). Runcible Spoon, 1968.
  • Nights on Prose Mountain: Some Scraptures Sequences (Issue 6 of GrOnk: Series 3). Ganglia Press, 1969.[3]
  • Complete Works. Toronto: Ganglia, 1969.
  • Still Water. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 1970.
  • The True Eventual Story of Billy the Kid. Toronto, ON: Weed/Flower Press, 1970.[2]
  • Beach Head. 1970.
  • Transformational Unit (chapbook). Coach House, 1971.
  • ABC: The aleph beth book. Ottawa, ON: Oberon Press, 1971.
  • Monotones. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 1971.
  • The Other Side of the Room. Toronto, ON: Weed/Flower Press, 1971.
  • The Captain Poetry Poems. Vancouver: blewointment press, 1971.[4]
  • Aleph Unit (chapbook). Toronto, ON: Seripress, 1973.
  • Love: a book of remembrances. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 1974.
  • In England Now That Spring: Polaroid Poems, Found Texts, Visions and Collaborations; Records of a Journey through Scotland and England, with Steve McCaffery. Longwood, 1978.[2]
  • Extreme Positions. Edmonton, AB: Longspoon Press, 1981.
  • Continental Trance. Lantzville, BC: Oolichan Books, 1982.
  • First Screening (computer poems). Underwhich, 1984; Red Deer, AB: Red Deer Press, 1993.
  • Zygal: A book of mysteries & translations. Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1985.
  • Selected Organs: Parts of an autobiography. Windsor, ON: Black Moss Press, 1988.
  • Art Facts: A Book of contexts. Tucson, AZ: Chax Press, 1990.

The Martyrology[]

  • The Martyrology, Books 1 & 2. Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1972.
  • The Martyrology, Books 3 & 4. Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1976.
  • The Martyrology, Book 5. Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1982.
  • The Martyrology, Book 6. Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1987.
  • Gifts: The Martyrology, Book(s) 7 & 8. Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1990.
  • Ad Sanctos: The Martyrology, Book 9. Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1993.

Novels[]

  • Two Novels (includes Andy and For Jesus Lunatick). Toronto, ON: Coach House, 1969; revised edition, 1971.
  • Still. Vancouver, BC: Pulp Press, 1983.

Short fiction[]

  • Craft Dinner: Stories & texts, 1966–1976. Toronto, ON: Aya Press, 1978.

Non-fiction[]

  • Translating Translating Apollinaire: A preliminary report. Milwaukee, WI: Membrane Press, 1979.
  • Truth: A book of fictions (edited by Irene Niechoda). Stratford, ON: Mercury Press, 1993.
  • Meanwhile: Critical writings (edited by Roy Miki). Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2002.[4]

Juvenile[]

  • Once: A lullaby. Windsor, ON: Black Moss Press, 1983.
  • Giants, Moosequakes & other disasters. Windsor, ON: Black Moss Press, 1985.
  • To the End of the Block. Windsor, ON: Black Moss Press, 1985.

Collected editions[]

Journals[]

  • Journal. Toronto, ON: Coach House Press, 1978.
BpNichol_-_"Incest_Song"

BpNichol - "Incest Song"


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy bpNichol.ca.[5]

Audio / video[]

BpNichol_-_Pome_Poem

BpNichol - Pome Poem

BpNichol_-_"Love_poem_for_Gertrude_Stein"

BpNichol - "Love poem for Gertrude Stein"

Recordings[]

  • Motherlove. Toronto, ON: Allied Records, 1968.
  • bpNichol. Toronto, ON: High Barnet, 1971.
  • Ear Rational. Milwaukee, WI: Membrane Press, 1982.

Except where noted, discographical information courtesy bpNichol.ca.[5]

Television[]

  • Fraggle Rock (co-writer with Dennis Lee and David Young)
  • Care Bears (animated series)
  • Blizzard Island

See also[]

References[]

  • bpNichol, Konfessions of an Elizabethan Fan Dancer (edited by Nelson Ball). Toronto: Coach House, 2004. ISBN 1-55245-137-2

Notes[]

  1. ↑ Google Maps
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 bpNichol 1944-1988, Online Guide to Writing in Canada. Web, May 27, 2013.
  3. ↑ Nights on Prose Mountain, Google Books. Web, May 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Search results = au:bp nichol, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Apr. 18, 2019.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 About bp: A biography and Select bibliography, bpNichol.ca. Web, May 27, 2013.

External links[]

Poems
Audio / video
Books
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