Pamela Porter

Last updated

Pamela Porter
BornPamela Paige Porter
(1956-07-14) July 14, 1956 (age 66)
Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
OccupationWriter
NationalityCanadian
Period2002 – present
GenrePoetry, children’s fiction
Notable works The Crazy Man
SpouseRob Porter
Children2

Pamela Paige Porter (born July 14, 1956) is a Canadian novelist and poet. She was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and has also lived in Texas, Louisiana, Washington, and Montana. She emigrated to Canada with her husband Rob Porter, from the fourth generation of a Saskatchewan farm family, and resides in North Saanich, British Columbia. [1] She has received praise for her young adult novels, especially The Crazy Man. Her poetry has won the Prism International Poetry Prize and the Vallum Magazine Poetry Prize, and has appeared in literary magazines in Canada and the United States. [2]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Porter lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico until halfway through kindergarten. Her father, who worked for an insurance company, was transferred, and then the family moved to Dallas, Texas. When Porter was 12 years old, her father was transferred to Monroe, Louisiana, where she attended Robert E. Lee Junior High. She remembers her school as being very strict; she had to address all her elders as "Yes, Ma'am, No, Ma'am, Yes, Sir, No, Sir." She was first introduced to racism at her school when everyone treated the African American staff with no respect by calling them by their first names and playing around with them. She recalls becoming very interested in world politics and the civil rights movement by watching the evening news every day.

Porter was first introduced to poetry while flipping through the back of her English language arts book in class. She picked up books from the library, books of poetry and pieces that usually were short, the length she felt she could read. She was also introduced to poems by Robert Frost, particularly "Desert Places". She believed she was always destined to be an author, and remembers always wanting to play the game "Authors" instead of "Scrabble" as a child. [3]

Later life

Porter finished her undergraduate degree at Southern Methodist University. She holds an MFA in poetry writing from the University of Montana. When she first entered university, she was very interested in languages. She studied the German language for a few years and was interested in becoming fluent in some other languages and becoming a translator.

Porter also is an accomplished musician, noted particularly for her abilities in piano, guitar, and singing, and was encouraged by university faculty to major in music.

Porter was 19 years old when she took her first writing course with John Skoyles. Other teachers were Jack Myers, Richard Hugo, and later Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane. Soon after earning her MFA, she was awarded a scholarship to attend the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference in Vermont.

Porter met her husband in a bell choir. She and Rob traveled a lot together before having children; they lived in Sunspot, New Mexico, and then moved to Seattle before moving to Ulm, Montana to be closer to Rob's family, who were in Calgary. [3] The family now resides near Sidney, British Columbia. [4]

Porter has been a professor at the University of Victoria as a sessional instructor. [5]

For generations, Rob’s family has gone to Saskatchewan every summer to work on the farm. [6]

Analysis

Influences

Pamela Porter has said that her first influence was the Bible. [7] She was raised in a family of stalwart Presbyterians who were strict followers of their religion. She learned to read at the age of five as her father held his finger beneath the words in a hymn book. She has early memories of hearing the King James Bible read aloud; this gave her an introduction to literature and diverse vocabulary at a young age.

Porter's second influence was Robert Frost. She has said that The Complete Poems of Robert Frost was the only book of literature in her house; her mother received it as a gift. No one had opened it until Porter pulled the book down from a high shelf and began to read it.

Other influences on Porter include Li-Young Lee, Carolyn Forché, Lorna Crozier, and Patrick Lane. She leans towards "poets who make effortless music with language while still holding their humanity close." [7]

Cultural impact

Porter's work has had a great impact on juvenile audiences. Young readers voted The Crazy Man across Canada as their favourite book of the year. [3] Her books are distinguishable from other children books as their themes deal with real-life issues and are often based on serious subjects, and are written in verse rather than conventional prose. They involve difficult and challenging experiences that children have encountered or will encounter in their lives, and are stories that many children can relate to. [2] A prime example is The Crazy Man, which deals with the abandonment of one parent or sometimes both, thus telling the story of how people heal from tragedy and what they do to arrive at the point of healing, and even of gratitude.

However, as Porter is first and foremost a poet, her adult poetry is gaining a wider and more expansive readership.

She has also been deeply involved with rescuing animals, including dogs, cats, horses, and a rabbit, and taking them in as her own. [3] Porter claims her love for animals was always in her, but she began to adopt animals while living on a ranch in Montana. [2]

Works

Children’s fiction

Children’s picture books

Poetry

Translations of her works

Awards

For The Crazy Man

For other works


Related Research Articles

Sheree Fitch is a Canadian author and literacy advocate. Known primarily for her children's books, she has also published poetry and fiction for adults.

Joy Nozomi Kogawa is a Canadian poet and novelist of Japanese descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Lee (author)</span>

Dennis Beynon Lee is a Canadian poet, teacher, editor, and critic born in Toronto, Ontario. He is also a children's writer, well known for his book of children's rhymes, Alligator Pie.

Pamela Claire Mordecai is a Jamaican-born poet, novelist, short story writer, scholar and anthologist who lives in Canada.

The Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award is a literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian children's book. The book must be written in English and published in Canada during the preceding year. The writer must be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie-Louise Gay</span> Canadian illustrator and childrens writer (born 1952)

Marie-Louise Gay is a Canadian children's writer and illustrator.

Jean Rae Baxter is a Canadian author.

Brian Doyle is a Canadian writer of novels and short stories. His children's books have been adapted into movies and plays. Many of his stories are drawn from his experiences growing up in the Ottawa area. He was awarded the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature in 2005 and was twice a finalist for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Shelley Tanaka is a Canadian editor of numerous young adult novels, an author of non-fiction for children, a translator, and a writing teacher.

Celia Barker Lottridge is a Canadian children's writer.

Cary Fagan is a Canadian writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. His novel, The Student, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. Previously a short-story collection, My Life Among the Apes, was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and his widely praised adult novel, A Bird's Eye, was shortlisted for the 2013 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His novel Valentine's Fall was nominated for the 2010 Toronto Book Award. Since publishing his first original children's book in 2001, he has published 25 children's titles.

Joan Givner is an essayist, biographer, and novelist, known for her biographies of women, short stories, and the Ellen Fremendon series of novels for younger readers that was finalist for the Silver Birch Awards, the 2006 Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award for Ellen Fremedon, and the Diamond Willow Awards.

Jacqueline Pearce is a Canadian author of books for children and teens. She writes contemporary and historical fiction, as well as poetry.

Susan Elizabeth McCaslin is a Canadian poet and writer.

<i>The Crazy Man</i> 2005 Canadian childrens novel by Pamela Porter

The Crazy Man is a 2005 Canadian children's novel written by Pamela Porter. This realistic family novel told in free verse has received many awards and was selected for the Governor General's Literary Award. The story is about a girl named Emaline who lives on a farm. Emaline's family falls apart after a terrible tractor accident. After chasing her beloved dog, Emaline's father accidentally runs over her leg with a tractor leaving her permanently disabled. Because of guilt, Emaline's father shoots her dog, Prince, and ends up leaving Emaline and her mother on their own. The narrative follows Emaline as she deals with prejudice, fear, her disability, and the absence of her father.

The Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award was a literary award given annually from 1981 to 2016 to recognize a Canadian book of young adult fiction written in English and published in Canada, written by a citizen or permanent resident of Canada.

JonArno Lawson is a Canadian writer who has published many books for children and adults, was born in Hamilton, Ontario and raised in nearby Dundas. He now lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his wife and three children.

Jorge Argueta is a Salvadoran award-winning poet and author of many highly acclaimed bilingual children’s books and short stories, covering themes related to Latino culture and traditions, nature, and the immigrant experience. He immigrated to the United States in the 1980s during the Salvadoran Civil War.

Patricia Aldana is a children's book publisher based in Canada. She is the founder and former publisher of Groundwood Books, past president of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), current president of the IBBY Trust, and current publisher of Aldana Libros, an imprint of Greystone Kids. She was named to the Order of Canada in 2010 "for her contributions to children's publishing in Canada and around the world."

Shauntay Grant is a Canadian author, poet, playwright, and professor. Between 2009 and 2011, she served as the third poet laureate of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is known for writing Africville, a children's picture book about a black community by the same name that was razed by the city of Halifax in the 1960s. "Africville" was nominated for a 2018 Governor General’s Literary Award. The book also won the 2019 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and was among 13 picture books listed on the United States Board on Books for Young People's 2019 USBBY Outstanding International Books List.

References

  1. 1 2 "Authors & Illustrators: Pamela Porter". Groundwood Books Ltd. Archived from the original on October 10, 2006. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Pamela Porter". Canada Council for the Arts. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Jenkinson, Dave. "Pamela Porter". The Manitoba Library Association. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Paige. "Writers & Writing: Pamela Porter". The Writers' Union of Canada. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PAMELA PORTER . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Pamela Porter". The Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  7. 1 2 "INTERVIEW WITH GOVERNOR GENERAL AWARD WINNER PAMELA PORTER". Black Coffee Poet. April 6, 2011. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
  8. ↑ Past Winners and Finalists . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  9. ↑ BOYA Past Winners (PDF). Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  10. ↑ TD Canadian Children's Literature Award . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  11. ↑ Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Member Profile . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  13. ↑ Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  14. ↑ Archive . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  15. ↑ Golden Oak Award . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  16. ↑ GOLD MEDAL WINNERS . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  17. ↑ Past Red Cedar Book Awards Winners Complete List: 1998 – Present . Retrieved August 8, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.