John B. Lee

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John B. Lee

Born 1951
Flag of Canada Highgate, Ontario, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Occupation Author

John B. Lee (born 1951) is a Canadian author and poet who is presently Poet Laureate of Brantford, Ontario. He has received more than 60 prestigious international awards for poetry.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Life

Born in Southwestern Ontario, Lee was raised on a farm near the village of Highgate. He went to Ridgetown Distrtict High School, where he wrote some of his poems. He attended the University of Western Ontario where he received a B.A. in English, and a B.Ed. and M.A. in teaching English.

[edit] Career

Lee is the author of thirty published books and ten published chapbooks. A popular performer of children's poems and songs, he has been a writer-in-residence at the University of Windsor, Kitchener Public Library, and Hillfield Strathallen private school. Lee has also been a visiting professor at University of Western Ontario, University of Windsor, Canador College, and a guest speaker at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and many universities throughout Canada and the United States.

Lee is the recipient of the following awards:

  • Twice Winner of The People's Poetry Award;
  • Twice recipient of the Canadian Literary Award (CBC Radio);
  • Twice Winner of the Eric Hill Award of Excellence in Poetry (2004 and 2005); and
  • Recipient of over 60 prestigious international awards for poetry.

He is also an honorary life member of the following associations:

[edit] Publications

  • Poems Only A Dog Could Love, Applegarth Follies, 1976
  • Love Among the Tombstones, Dogwood Press, 1980
  • Fossils of the Twentieth Century, Vesta Publications, 1983
  • Hired Hands, Brick Books, 1986 (Runner Up for the People's Poetry Award)
  • Small Worlds, Vesta Publications, 1986
  • Rediscovered Sheep, Brick Books, 1989
  • The Bad Philosophy of Good Cows, Black Moss Press, 1989
  • The Pig Dance Dreams, Black Moss Press, 1991 (Winner of the People's Poetry Award)
  • The Hockey Player Sonnets, Penumbra Press, 1991
  • When Shaving Seems Like Suicide, Goose Lane Editions, 1991
  • Variations on Herb, Brick Books, 1993 (winner of the People's Poetry Award)
  • The Art of Walking Backwards, Black Moss Press, 1993
  • All the Cats Are Gone, Penumbra Press, 1993
  • These Are the Days of Dogs and Horses, Black Moss Press, 1994
  • The Beatles Landed Laughing in New York, Black Moss Press, 1995
  • Tongues of the Children, Black Moss Press, 1996 (winner of the Tilden Award for poetry, 1995)
  • Never Hand Me Anything if I Am Walking or Standing, Black Moss Press, 1997
  • Soldier's Heart, Black Moss Press, 1998
  • Stella's Journey, Black Moss Press, 1999
  • Don't Be So Persnickety: The Runaway Sneezing Poems, Songs and Riddles, of John B. Lee, Black Moss Press, 2000
  • The Half-Way Tree: Poems Selected and New, Black Moss Press, 2001
  • In the Terrible Weather of Guns, Mansfield Press, 2002
  • Totally Unused Heart, Black Moss Press, 2003
  • Poems for the Pornographer's Daughter, Black Moss Press, 2005
  • Godspeed, Black Moss Press, 2006
  • But Where Were the Horses of Evening, Serengeti Press, 2007
  • The Place That We Keep After Leaving, Black Moss Press, 2008

[edit] Chapbooks Broadsides and flyers

  • Broken Glass, League of Canadian Poets, 1983 (poetry flyer)
  • To Kill a White Dog, Brick Books, 1982 (chapbook)
  • Broadside HMS Press (Toronto)
  • The Day Jane Fonda Came to Guelph, Plowman Press, 1989 (chapbook)
  • In a Language with No Word for Horses, Above/Ground Press, 1997
  • The Echo of Your Words Has Reached Me, Mekler and Deahl, 1998 (chapbook)
  • An Almost Silent Drumming: The South Africa Poems, Cranberry Tree Press, 2001
  • Though Their Joined Hearts Drummed Like Larks, Passion Among the Cacti Press, 2004
  • Thirty-Three Thousand Shades of Green, Leaf Press, fall 2004
  • The Bright Red Apples of the Dead, Pooka Press, 2004

[edit] Non-Fiction

  • What's In a Name?, Dogwood Press, 1994, 1998 (essay in chapbook form)
  • Head Heart Hands Health: A History of 4-H in Ontario, Comri Productions, 1995 (history)
  • Building Bicycles in the Dark: A Practical Guide to Writing, Black Moss Press, 2001
  • The Farm on the Hill He Calls Home: A Memoir, Black Moss Press, 2004

[edit] Editor

  • "That Sign of Perfection: From Bandy Legs to Beer Legs — Poems and Stories on the Game of Hockey", Black Moss Press, 1995 (edited by John B. Lee)
  • "Losers First: Poems and Stories on Game and Sport", Black Moss Press, 1999 (edited by John B. Lee)
  • "I Want to Be the Poet of Your Kneecaps: Poems of Quirky Romance", Black Moss Press, 1999 (edited by John B. Lee)
  • "Henry's Creature: Poems and Stories on the Automobile", Black Moss Press, 2000 (edited by Roger Bell and John B. Lee)
  • "Following the Plough: Recovering the Rural — Poems and Stories on the Land", Black Moss Press, 2000 (edited by John B. Lee)
  • "Smaller Than God: Words of Spiritual Longing", Black Moss Press, 2001 (edited by Brother Paul Quenon and John B. Lee)
  • "Body Language: A Head-to-Toe Anthology", Black Moss Press, 2003

[edit] References