Tom Dawe

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Tom Dawe

BornTom Dawe
(1940-10-24) October 24, 1940 (age 84)
Long Pond, Newfoundland
OccupationWriter
LanguageEnglish
Nationality Canadian
Education Memorial University

Tom Dawe, CM ONL (born October 24, 1940) is a Canadian writer from Newfoundland and Labrador.

Contents

Background

Born in Long Pond, Newfoundland, Tom Dawe has written poetry and children's literature for many years. He is also a visual artist. His work often draws on folklore, mythology, autobiography, and Newfoundland culture, particularly the experience of growing up in a Newfoundland outport community.

Tom Dawe was a founding member in 1973 of Breakwater Books, the province's first publishing house. He was also a co-founder of TickleAce magazine, and an editor of the folklore publication The Livyer. Dawe also taught English at Memorial University of Newfoundland. His work is the subject of Rewriting Newfoundland Mythology: The Works of Tom Dawe, by Martina Seifert.

In the opening of his career, Tom Dawe felt too shy to read his own work to others. To get him going, venerable publisher Clyde Rose offered to do the readings for him. [1] From the lesson, Dawe became highly proficient at public delivery. As an example (like many other events through the years), Dawe successfully led the 2015 holiday CBC audio presentation of The Old Man's Winter Night. [2]

Tom Dawe was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2011 and an Officer of the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2012. [3] [4]

From 2010-2013 Dawe was the poet laureate of St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. [5] His 2019 New and Collected Poems was shortlisted in the poetry category for the 2020 ReLit Award. [6]

In the 2020 Walrus essay The Poet Who Warns Us Not to Revere the Past, Tom Dawe is said to be "about the difficulty of change" made from his own "disarmingly plain-spoken, quietly perceptive poems". [7]

Bibliography

Poetry

Children's literature

Short stories

References

  1. Charismatic Publisher Clyde Rose Championed Newfoundland and Labrador Authors, The Globe and Mail, 21 November 2023, retrieved 16 June 2024
  2. Can the Animals Talk at Midnight? Telling Stories on Christmas Eve, The Globe and Mail, 24 December 2015, retrieved 16 June 2024
  3. "Appointments to the Order of Canada". Governor General of Canada. 20 September 2017.
  4. "7th Investiture". Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.
  5. City f St John's, NL
  6. "38 books shortlisted for 2020 ReLit Awards". CBC Books, April 27, 2021.
  7. The Poet Who Warns Us Not to Revere the Past, The Walrus, 26 March 2020, retrieved 16 June 2024