Christopher Dewdney

Last updated

Christopher Dewdney (born May 9, 1951) is a prize-winning Canadian poet and essayist. His poetry reflects his interest in natural history. [1] His book Acquainted with the Night, an investigation into darkness was nominated for both the Charles Taylor Prize and the Governor General's Award. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Dewdney was born and grew up in London, Ontario. He is the son of Canadian artist and author Selwyn Dewdney, brother of Alexander Keewatin Dewdney. He was influenced by London artists Greg Curnoe and Jack Chambers. Dewdney is the long-time partner of writer Barbara Gowdy. [3]

Career

Dewdney moved to Toronto, Ontario in 1980.

In 1988, when he published his book Last Flesh, he was teaching at the McLuhan Institute in Toronto. [4] In 1992 he was writer-in-residence at the University of Western Ontario. In 2002 he published The Natural History, a book-length poem which brings together and interprets several scientific disciplines. [5]

In 2007 he was presented with the Harbourfront Prize at the International Festival of Authors. [6] In 2008 he was writer-in-residence at the University of Toronto.

Soul of World, Unlocking the Secrets of Time was listed at number 4 in The Globe and Mail ′s 100 Books of 2008. Acquainted with the Night was released as a feature documentary in 2010, and in 2011 the film received a Gemini Award. Dewdney appeared in the classic documentary Poetry in Motion .

He is currently a professor at the Glendon campus of York University.

Poetic style and critical evaluation

Dewdney's poetry has been described as post-modern [7] and experimental. [8] He frequently uses poetry to highlight the wonders of science. [9] Author Karl Jirgens praises his ability to "articulate the link...between the empirical and the mystic." [10]

In his 1986 book, The Immaculate Perception, Dewdney describes nature as "divine technology," and language as a "cognitive prosthesis". In this same book he refers to language as an "organically derived software downloaded into a child's mind at an early age". He writes that this process leaves a wound, "language acquisition trauma", in the unconscious. His two subsequent non-fiction books, The Secular Grail and Last Flesh, deal with consciousness, media and a possible future evolution of humans. In more recent years his nonfiction have explored the subjects of night and time.

Bibliography

Poetry

Non-fiction

Awards and honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Urquhart</span> Canadian novelist and poet

Jane Urquhart, LL.D is a Canadian novelist and poet. She is the internationally acclaimed author of seven award-winning novels, three books of poetry and numerous short stories. As a novelist, Urquhart is well known for her evocative style which blends history with the present day. Her first novel, The Whirlpool, gained her international recognition when she became the first Canadian to win France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger. Her subsequent novels were even more successful. Away, published in 1993, won the Trillium Award and was a national bestseller. In 1997, her fourth novel, The Underpainter, won the Governor General's Literary Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ondaatje</span> Canadian novelist and poet

Philip Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor, and filmmaker.

Margaret Avison, was a Canadian poet who twice won Canada's Governor General's Award and has also won its Griffin Poetry Prize. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "Her work has been praised for the beauty of its language and images."

George Harry Bowering, is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He was the first Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austin Clarke (novelist)</span> Barbadian writer (1934–2016)

Austin Ardinel Chesterfield "Tom" Clarke,, was a Barbadian novelist, essayist, and short story writer who was based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Among his notable books are novels such as The Polished Hoe (2002), memoirs including Membering (2015), and two collections of poetry, Where the Sun Shines Best (2013) and In Your Crib (2015).

Erica Elisabeth Arendt Harvor is a Canadian novelist and poet who lives in Ottawa, Ontario. She was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, where she grew up on the Kingston Peninsula. She enrolled at Concordia University in 1983, receiving an MA in Creative Writing in 1986. She has also won many awards for her fiction and poetry. Her short story collection Let Me Be the One was a finalist for the 1996 Governor General's Literary Award. Fortress of Chairs, her first book of poems, won the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for best first book of poetry written by a Canadian writer in 1992. Her second poetry book, The Long Cold Green Evenings of Spring, was a finalist for the Lowther Award in 1997, and her first novel, Excessive Joy Injures the Heart, was chosen one of the ten best books of the year by The Toronto Star in 2000. Also in 2000 Harvor won the Alden Nowlan Award, in 2003 the Marian Engel Award, and in 2004 the Malahat Novella Prize for "Across Some Dark Avenue of Plot He Carried Her Body." She won second prize in Prairie Fire's Fiction category for "An Animal Trainer Urging A Big Cat Out of its Cage in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irving Layton</span>

Irving Peter Layton, OC was a Romanian-born Canadian poet. He was known for his "tell it like it is" style which won him a wide following, but also made him enemies. As T. Jacobs notes in his biography (2001), Layton fought Puritanism throughout his life:

Layton's work had provided the bolt of lightning that was needed to split open the thin skin of conservatism and complacency in the poetry scene of the preceding century, allowing modern poetry to expose previously unseen richness and depth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erín Moure</span> Canadian poet and translator of verse (born 1955)

Erín Moure Erín Moure is a Canadian poet and translator with 18 books of poetry, a coauthored book of poetry, a volume of essays, a book of articles on translation, a poetics, and two memoirs; she has translated or co-translated 21 books of poetry and two of biopoetics from French, Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, and Ukrainian, by poets such as Nicole Brossard, Andrés Ajens, Chantal Neveu, Rosalía de Castro, Chus Pato, Uxío Novoneyra, Lupe Gómez, Fernando Pessoa, and Yuri Izdryk. Three of her own books have appeared in translation, one each in German, Galician, and French. Her work has received the Governor General’s Award twice, Pat Lowther Memorial Award, A. M. Klein Prize twice, and has been a three-time finalist for the Griffin Prize and three-time finalist in the USA for a Best Translated Book Award (Poetry). Her latest is The Elements (2019) and Theophylline: an a-poretic migration will appear in 2023. Her work is rooted in a philosophical mix that accepts mystery, not always immediately accessible, and she has won several prizes, including the Governor General's Award twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Heighton</span> Canadian writer (1961–2022)

Steven Heighton was a Canadian fiction writer, poet, and singer-songwriter. He is the author of eighteen books, including three short story collections, four novels, and seven poetry collections. His last work was Selected Poems 1983-2020 and an album, The Devil's Share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Purdy</span>

Alfred Wellington Purdy was a 20th-century Canadian free verse poet. Purdy's writing career spanned fifty-six years. His works include thirty-nine books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four books of correspondence, in addition to his posthumous works. He has been called the nation's "unofficial poet laureate" and "a national poet in a way that you only find occasionally in the life of a culture."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Redhill</span> Canadian poet, playwright and novelist

Michael Redhill is an American-born Canadian poet, playwright and novelist. He also writes under the pseudonym Inger Ash Wolfe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Reaney</span>

James Crerar Reaney, was a Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol." Reaney won Canada's highest literary award, the Governor General's Award, three times and received the Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama for both his poetry and his drama.

Ralph Barker Gustafson, CM was a Canadian poet and professor at Bishop's University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Hay (novelist)</span> Canadian novelist and short story writer (born 1951)

Elizabeth Grace Hay is a Canadian novelist and short story writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Robert Colombo</span> Canadian author, editor, and poet

John Robert Colombo, CM is a Canadian author, editor, and poet. He has published over 200 titles, including major anthologies and reference works.

<i>Acquainted with the Night</i> (book) Non-fiction book by Christopher Dewdney, 2004

Acquainted with the Night: Excursions through the World After Dark is a non-fiction book by Christopher Dewdney about various aspects of night. It was first published in 2004 by HarperCollins. It uses the same title as the Robert Frost poem "Acquainted with the Night". The book consists of 14 chapters, with one chapter dedicated to each hour of the night, from 6 pm to 5 am. Mini-essays populate each chapter which each follow a theme, like nocturnal creatures, dreams, astronomy, and mythology. Other subjects and topics touched upon include science, art, culture, natural history, superstitions, and psychology. The book was a finalist for the 2004 Governor General's Awards and for the 2005 Charles Taylor Prize. It tied with Dark Matter: Reading The Bones for the World Fantasy Award in Anthologies.

Trevor Cole is a Canadian novelist and journalist. He has published five novels; the first two, Norman Bray in the Performance of his Life (2004) and The Fearsome Particles (2006), were nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Howard (writer)</span> Canadian writer

Liz Howard is a Canadian writer. Her debut poetry collection, Infinite Citizen of the Shaking Tent, was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry at the 2015 Governor General's Awards, and winner of the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Canisia Lubrin is a writer, critic, professor, poet and editor. Originally from St. Lucia, Lubrin now lives in Whitby, Ontario, Canada.

Karl Jirgens is a writer, editor and professor emeritus at the University of Windsor, Ontario. He was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, and attended University of Toronto for his BA, Ontario College of Art where he completed 3 years towards a BFA, and York University for his MA and PhD in 1990. He has taught at the University of Toronto, York University, Guelph University, Humber College, Laurentian University (Algoma), and was the former head of the English Department at the University of Windsor (2004-2009).

References

  1. "Christopher Dewdney : Biography", Canadian poetry Online, University of Toronto Libraries.
  2. 1 2 "Author Christopher Dewdney looks at time with `Soul of the World'". Toronto Star, By Vit Wagner. March 8, 2008
  3. "Barbara Gowdy won’t back down". The Globe and Mail, April 13, 2017, Mark Medley.
  4. "Book Reviews - Last Flesh: Life in the Transhuman Era". Quill and Quire, 1988.
  5. Zilá Bernd (2006). Canada from the Outside In. Le Canada Vu D'ailleurs: New Trends in Canadian Studies. Nouvelles Tendances en Études Canadiennes. Peter Lang. p. 119. ISBN   978-90-5201-041-0.
  6. "Toronto poet Christopher Dewdney wins Harbourfront prize". CBC Arts. .Sep 28, 2007
  7. Revue D'études Canadiennes. Vol. 20. Trent University. 1985. p. 136.
  8. Den Tandt Christophe, ed. (2005). Reading Without Maps?: Cultural Landmarks in a Post-canonical Age : a Tribute to Gilbert Debusscher. Peter Lang. p. 107. ISBN   978-90-5201-283-4.
  9. Michale Hayward. "Poet Knows It". Vancouver Sun, April 10, 2008.
  10. Karl Jirgens, Christopher Dewdney and His Works (1997), ECW Press.
  11. "Acquainted With the Night, by Christopher Dewdney". Georgia Straight, by Hal Wake on June 17, 2004