Don McKay. Courtesy Bookmark, Inc.
| Don McKay | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 Canadian |
| Education | Ph.D., University of Wales |
| Occupation | poet, essayist |
| Known for | Night Field, Another Gravity, Strike / Slip |
Don McKay CM (born 1942) is an award-winning Canadian poet, editor, and academic.
Life[]
McKay was born in Owen Sound and raised in Cornwall, Ontario.
He was educated at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), and at the University of Wales, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1971.
He taught creative writing and English for 27 years in universities including UWO and the University of New Brunswick.
McKay is the author of a dozen books of poetry, including Long Sault (1975), Lependu (1978), and Apparatus (1997).
He has made a wide impression as a teacher and editor. He is a founder of and a manuscript reader for Brick Books, a leading Canadian poetry press. He was editor of the literary magazine The Fiddlehead from 1991 to 1996. He has participated in the Sage Hill Writing experience in Saskatchewan, and is associate director for poetry at the Banff Centre for the Arts Writing Studio.
He has edited many books by fellow poets, including Ken Babstock, George Elliott Clarke, Tim Lilburn, Barbara Colebrook Peace, and Michael Redhill.
Writing[]
Although McKay has been publishing since 1973, literary writing on his poetry is recent. Much critical examination of his work is yet to be done.
McKay is an avid birdwatcher, and birds and flight are recurring topics and images in his poetry. In Birding, or Desire (1983), the quirky protagonist is never far from his Birds of Canada hobbyist's field guide. McKay's passion for birds and nature percolates throughout all of his work. McKay sees his writing as "nature poetry in a time of environmental crisis."[1] McKay's poems are ecologically centred, inspired by the conflict between inspiration and spiritual, instinct and knowledge. Other members of this emerging group of "ecopoets" include Tim Lilburn, Dennis Lee, Roo Borson, Robert Bringhurst, and Jan Zwicky.Template:By whom
His book of poetic philosophy, Vis a Vis: Field notes on poetry and wilderness, details many of McKay's beliefs on metaphor, wildness, and the homing instinct. McKay's essay "Baler Twine," touches on his main poetic themes as well as those of Materiel and poetic attention.
Recognition[]
McKay has twice won the Governor General's Award, for Night Field (1991) and Another Gravity (2000).[2]
In June 2007, he won the Griffin Poetry Prize for Strike/Slip (2006).[2]
In 2008, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.[3]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Air Occupies Space. Windsor, ON: University of Windsor Press / Sesame Press, 1973.
- Long Sault. London, ON: Applegarth Follies, 1975.
- Lependu. Ilderton, ON: Nairn Coldstream, 1978.
- Lightning Ball Bait. Toronto: Coach House, 1980.
- Birding; or, Desire: Poems. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1983.
- Sanding Down this Rocking Chair on a Windy Night. Toronto: Mclelland & Stewart, 1987.
- Night Field: Poems. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart, 1991.
- Apparatus. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1997.
- Another Gravity. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000.
- Varves (chapbook). Edmonton, AB: Extra Virgin Press, 2003.
- Camber: Selected poems, 1983-2000. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2004.
- Strike / Slip. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2006.
- Field Marks: The poetry of Don McKay (edited by Méira Cook). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2006.
- The Muskwa Assemblage. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 2008.
- Leaf to leaf-Foglio a foglia (Italian translation by Sara Fruner and Filippo Mariano), edited by Angelo Longo (2010)
- Paradoxes: Poems. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2012.
- Angular Unconformity: Collected poems, 1970-2014. Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane Editions (Icehouse Poetry), 2014.
Non-fiction[]
- Vis a Vis: Field notes on poetry & wilderness. Wolfville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 2001. * Deactivation West 100. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 2005.
- The Shell of the Tortoise; Four essays and an assemblage. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 2011.
Poet Don McKay reads from Strike Slip
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[4]
Audio / video[]
Pond, a poem by Don McKay
- Camber: Selected poems, 1983-2000 (CD). Winnipeg, MB: CNIB, 2006.[4]
- Songs for the Songs of Birds (CD). Tors Cove, NL: Rattling Books, 2007.[4]
See also[]
References[]
- Don McKay: Essays on his works. (edited by Brian Bartlett). Toronto: Guernica Editions, 2006.
Notes[]
- ↑ McKay, Don. Vis-Ã -Vis: Field Notes on Poetry & Wilderness. Wolfville: Gaspereau Press, 2001, p.9.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Don McKay, Brick Books. Web, Sep. 23, 2016.
- ↑ "Governor General Announces New Appointments to the Order of Canada". http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5601.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Search results = au:Don McKay, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Nov. 24, 2014.
External links[]
- Poems
- Audio/video
- Books
- Don McKay at Amazon.ca
- About
- Don McKay in the Canadian Encyclopedia
- Don McKay at Brick Books
- Griffin Poetry Prize biography
- Don McKay in the Atlantic Canadian Poets' Archive
- "The Poetry of Don McKay" by Stan Dragland (from University of Toronto Quarterly)
- "Faulty Lines: The Poetry and Poetics of Don McKay" by Zachariah Wells
- Gaspereau Press interview with Don McKay
- On Poetry: Don McKay’s Angular Unconformity by Michael Lista, National Post
- Etc.
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