| Robert Priest | |
|---|---|
Robert Priest in 2007 |
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| Born | 1951 |
| Occupation | Author |
| Genres | Children's Literature |
Robert Priest (born 1951) is a British born Canadian poet and children's author. He has written numerous books of poetry, several children's novels, and has often appeared on CBC radio's hit spoken word show "Wordbeat" under the alias "Dr Poetry". He is well known for his aphorisms and performance poetry. His adult poetry has been categorized as surrealistic satire while his children's poetry is more tender, underpinned with a utopian hopefulness. Canadian novelist Barbara Gowdy has described him as "the voice of the people and the angels, entwined" and the Toronto star has called him "passionate, cocky, alternately adoring and insulting verse." Aside from poetry, Priest has also branched out over the years to write plays, novels and songs, many of which have earned him awards and recognition in Canadian literary circles.
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Son of a navy officer and a member of the rens, Robert Priest was born in England in 1951 and immigrated to Canada at the age of 4. Growing up in Scarborough, a Toronto suburb, Priest developed his love of literature from the fanciful stories his mother often told him before bedtime. By the age of 8, Priest had already begun to dream of becoming a writer. But it wasn't until after high school that he began to seriously consider writing professionally. In 1970, Priest entered the university of Waterloo to study mathematics but soon dropped out so that he could put all his energies towards poetry. He released his first book of poetry in 1979 entitled "the Visible Man". He has since published 13 books of poetry, several plays, a children's novel, and a hit song. He is currently preparing his second young-adult fantasy novel "The Paper Sword" set for release in 2010. He lives in Toronto with his wife and is a regular contributor to Toronto's weekly magazine "Now".
The author of fourteen books of poetry, he won the Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award for The Mad Hand (1988). In his alias as Dr. Poetry he wrote and performed thirteen segments for CBC radio's spoken-word show Wordbeat. As a songwriter, he co-wrote the international number one hit, "Song Instead of a Kiss" for Alannah Myles. His aphorisms have already appeared in The Farmer's Almanac and Colombo's Canadian Quotations. He is the author of several plays, including The Coming, which was co-written with Leon Rooke. Priest's musical play Minibugs and Microchips received a Chalmer's Award. His novel, Knights of the Endless Day (1993) received an Our Choice Award from the Canadian Children's Book Centre. And as for his children's poetry, Daysongs Nightsongs and The Secret Invasion of Bananas and Other Poems (2002) are on the CBC's recommended reading list.
Adult poetry
Children's Poetry and Fiction