Harry Thurston

Harry Thurston
Born	1950 (age 74–75) Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Occupations	Writer journalist

Harry Thurston (born 1950) is a Canadian writer, poet, and journalist. He has written a variety of nonfiction books, for which he won the Evelyn Richardson Award four times, and is also an accomplished poet. He teaches at the University of King's College in Halifax.

Biography

Harry Thurston was born in 1950 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. ^[1] He attended Acadia University, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. ^[1] As a journalist, Thurston has written for over 30 publications, including National Geographic , Audubon , and Harrowsmith . ^[2] He has written a variety of nonfiction books, for which he won the Evelyn Richardson Award four times: in 1991, 1997, 2004, and 2012. His book Tidal Life also earned a Dartmouth Book Award and an Atlantic Booksellers' Choice Award. He won the first Lane Anderson Award in 2012 for his book The Atlantic Coast: A Natural History. ^[2] Thurston is also an accomplished poet, with his first collection, Barefaced Stone, published in 1980 by Fiddlehead Poetry Books. ^[2]

Thurston was the publisher and editor of Germination, a literary journal. He was a contributing editor for the magazine Equinox since it was established in 1981. ^[2]

Thurston lives in Tidnish Bridge, Nova Scotia. ^[3] He works as an instructor at the University of King's College in Halifax, and previously taught poetry at Saint Mary's University. ^[4] Thurston has served as writer-in-residence for Mount Allison University, Dalhousie University, and Acadia University. ^[4]

Publications

Nonfiction

• — (1989). Exploring Change: People and Places (Textbook). Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN   978-0-9208-4194-5. ^[5]
• — (1990). Atlantic Outposts. Lawrencetown Beach, N.S.: Pottersfield Press. ISBN   978-0-9190-0163-3. ^[6]
• — (1990). Tidal Life: A Natural History of the Bay of Fundy. Halifax, N.S.: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN   1-5510-9272-7. ^[7]
• — (1993). Against Darkness and Storm: Lighthouses of Atlantic Canada. Halifax, N.S.: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5510-9039-9. ^[8]
• — (1994). Dawning of the Dinosaurs: The Story of Canada's Oldest Dinosaurs. Halifax, N.S.: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5510-9100-6. ^[9]
• — (1996). World of the Shorebirds. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. ISBN   978-0-8715-6901-1. ^[5]
• — (1996). The Nature of Shorebirds: Nomads of the Wetlands. Vancouver: Greystone Books. ISBN   978-1-5505-4502-9. ^[10]
• — (1998). Building the Bridge to P.E.I. Halifax, N.S.: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5510-9260-7. ^[11]
• — (1998). The Atlantic Canada Nature Guide. Toronto: Key Porter Books. ISBN   978-1-5501-3952-5.
• — (1999). World of the Hummingbird. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. ISBN   978-1-5780-5043-7. ^[5]
• — (2002). The Sea Among the Rocks: Travels in Atlantic Canada. Lawrencetown Beach, N.S.: Pottersfield Press. ISBN   978-1-8959-0054-5. ^[12]
• — (2003). Island of the Blessed: the Secrets of Egypt's Everlasting Oasis. Toronto: Anchor Canada. ISBN   978-0-3852-5970-5. ^[13]
• — (2004). A Place Between the Tides: A Naturalist's Reflections on the Salt Marsh. Vancouver: Greystone Books. ISBN   978-1-5536-5035-5. ^[14]
• — (2011). The Atlantic Coast: A Natural History. Vancouver: Greystone Books. ISBN   978-1-5536-5446-9. ^[15]
• — (2020). Lost River: The Waters of Remembrance. Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press. ISBN   978-1-5544-7216-1. ^[3]

Poetry

• — (1980). Barefaced Stone. Fredericton, N.B.: Fiddlehead Poetry Books. ISBN   978-0-9201-1085-0. ^[16]
• — (1985). Clouds Flying Before the Eye. Fredericton, N.B.: Fiddlehead Poetry Books. ISBN   978-0-8649-2062-1. ^[17]
• — (2000). If Men Lived on Earth. Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press. ISBN   978-1-8940-3122-6. ^[18]
• — (2005). A Ship Portrait: A Novella in Verse. Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press. ISBN   978-1-5544-7006-8. ^[19]
• — (2005). The Sea's Voice. Halifax, N.S.: Nimbus Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5510-9547-9.
• — (2007). Broken Vessel: Thirty-five Days in the Desert. Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press. ISBN   978-1-5544-7034-1.
• — (2010). Animals of My Own Kind: New and Selected Poems. Montreal: Signal Editions. ISBN   978-1-5506-5258-1.
• — (2011). Ova Aves. Photography by Thaddeus Holownia. Jolicure, N.B.: Anchorage Press. ISBN   978-1-8954-8845-6.
• —; Cooper, Allan (2013). The Deer Yard. Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press. ISBN   978-1-5544-7120-1.
• — (2015). Keeping Watch at the End of the World. Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press. ISBN   978-1-5544-7144-7. ^[20]
• — (2022). Icarus, Falling of Birds. Photography by Thaddeus Holownia. Jolicure, N.B.: Anchorage Press. ISBN   978-1-8954-8854-8. ^[21]
• — (2023). Ultramarine. Kentville, N.S.: Gaspereau Press. ISBN   978-1-5544-7253-6. ^[22]
• — (2024). of a feather. Photography by Thaddeus Holownia. Jolicure, N.B.: Anchorage Press. ISBN   978-1-8954-8862-3.

References

Citations

1. Acadia (2023); TWUC (2020).
2. Acadia (2023).
3. Cole (2021).
4. TWUC (2020).
5. Gale.
6. Buhasz (1990).
7. Cayo (1991).
8. Canadian Press (1993).
9. Cran (1994).
10. Whelan (1996).
11. Edmonds (1998).
12. Cox (2003).
13. Colterjohn (2003); Shaw (2003); Wilson (2003).
14. Soucoup (2004).
15. Dean (2012).
16. Pulver (1981).
17. Sutherland (1986).
18. Compton (2000); Starnino (2000).
19. Balzer (2006).
20. Cole (2015).
21. Cave (2019); CBC Books (2022); Walker (2022).
22. Manley (2023).

Sources

• [Acadia] (2023). "Harry Thurston". Waterfront Views: Contemporary Writing of Atlantic Canada. Wolfville, N.S.: Acadia University . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Balzer, David (2006). "Capsizing Vessels". Books in Canada . 35 (4): 31–32.
• Buhasz, Laszlo (5 December 1990). "Sensitive tribute to a hardy breed". The Globe and Mail . p. 56. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• [Canadian Press] (10 July 1993). "Book sheds 'light' on heritage". Times-Transcript . The Canadian Press. p. 54. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Cave, Rachel (13 November 2019). "'It symbolizes man's hubris': Canaport bird kill inspires 2 artists". CBC News . New Brunswick: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Cayo, Don (27 April 1991). "Tidal beauty: Bay book looks at history, people, threats, future and bounty of Fundy". Telegraph-Journal . p. 40. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• [CBC Books] (30 August 2022). "Icarus, Falling of Birds". CBC Books . Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Cole, Darrell (30 July 2015). "Thurston looks inward with latest book of poetry". PNI Atlantic News . Amherst, N.S.: Postmedia Network . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Cole, Darrell (27 January 2021). "Meet your neighbour: Tidnish Bridge author's 27th book, Lost River, is an 'elegiac meditation'". The Chronicle Herald . Halifax, N.S.: SaltWire Network . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Colterjohn, David (5 April 2003). "Midnight at the oasis". The Vancouver Sun . p. 129. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Compton, Anne (17 June 2000). "'Men die from the top down': Poet Harry Thurston provides field notes to recovery". Telegraph-Journal . p. 77. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Cox, Kevin (1 February 2003). "The Sea Among the Rocks — Travels in Atlantic Canada". The Globe and Mail . p. 144. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Cran, E. E. (29 October 1994). "Of times before ours". Telegraph-Journal . p. 28. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Dean, Cornelia (9 July 2012). "From Newfoundland to the Gulf Stream Waters" . The New York Times . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Edmonds, Edward L. (1998). "Building the Bridge to PEI". Canadian Book Review Annual Online. University of Toronto Libraries . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• [Gale]. "Thurston, Harry". Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series. Encyclopedia.com . Gale . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Manley, Alison (17 December 2023). "Ultramarine by Harry Thurston". Miramichi Reader . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Pulver, Peggy (28 February 1981). "Barefaced Stone by Harry Thurston". The Kingston Whig-Standard . p. 54. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Shaw, Roberta (29 March 2003). "When the desert bloomed". The Globe and Mail . p. 86. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Soucoup, Dan (18 May 2004). "A Place Between the Tides". Times-Transcript . p. 19. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Starnino, Carmine (7 October 2000). "Poet is at top of his form". The Gazette . Montreal. p. 115. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Sutherland, Fraser (1 March 1986). "Poets to watch, if they watch themselves". The Globe and Mail . p. 66. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• [TWUC] (2020). "Harry Thurston". Toronto: Writers' Union of Canada . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Walker, Catherine (21 October 2022). "Icarus, Falling of Birds A Poem by Harry Thurston, Photography by Thaddeus Holownia". Miramichi Reader . Retrieved 6 October 2025.
• Whelan, Peter (14 December 1996). "Birding goes under the covers". The Globe and Mail . p. 77. Retrieved 6 October 2025– via Newspapers.com.
• Wilson, John (March 2003). "Island of the Blessed: The Secrets of Egypt's Everlasting Oasis". Quill & Quire (Review). Toronto: St. Joseph Media . Retrieved 6 October 2025.

Further reading

• Campbell, Wanda (2008). "Every Sea-Surrounded Hour': The Margin in Maritime Poetry". Studies in Canadian Literature . 33 (2). University of New Brunswick: 151–170. Retrieved 6 September 2025– via Érudit.
• LaRocque, Lance (2003). "Breathing Books, Deranged Bodies: Reading and Writing Landscapes in the Poetry of Harry Thurston". Isle: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. 10 (1). Association for the Study of Literature and Environment: 115–135. JSTOR   44086089.
• Thorpe, Michael (2000). "Nature vs. Nurture: Two Atlantic Poets Memorialize Lost Relations". Atlantic Books Today. 28: 16.
• Wyile, Herb (2011). Anne of Tim Hortons: Globalization and the Reshaping of Atlantic-Canadian Literature. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 221–224. ISBN   978-1-5545-8326-3.

External links

• Harry Thurston at 49th Shelf, Association of Canadian Publishers
• Harry Thurston fonds at the Dalhousie University Archives. – via MemoryNS
• Works by Harry Thurston at Open Library