David McFadden (poet)

David William McFadden (born October 11, 1940) is a Canadian poet, fiction writer, and travel writer. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario and began writing poetry while still in high school, publishing in famous literary magazines, corresponding with beat writer Jack Kerouac, and becoming a proofreader for the Hamilton Spectator newspaper.[1] As he grew more renowned as a poet he quit the newspaper and became a full-time literary figure in 1976.

McFadden has served on the editorial board of Coach House Press, and as a contributing editor for SwiftCurrent and Canadian Art Magazine. He was a monthly columnist for Quill and Quire (two years) and Hamilton This Month (three years). He also taught at David Thompson University Centre for three years and was a member of the production team of the literary journal Brick for six years.[1]

McFadden's poetry critiques the commercialism and shallowness of modern society. His work, with its overt humour, poignant reflections on contemporary urban life, and interest in the mistakes of the imagination, reveals an affinity with Frank O'Hara, John Ashbery and the New York School of the 1950s, as well as the Beat writers of the 1960s--Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti most obviously. His work, however, remains distinctly Canadian in subject matter, setting and personality. His book of 100 Baudelaire-inspired prose poems, Gypsy Guitar, was called "Everyone's favourite book of poems" by George Bowering.

McFadden is a founding member of GOSH (Gentlemen of Sensible Height), and a former member of International PEN, the Writer's Union of Canada, the League of Canadian Poets, and the Last Minute Club.[1]

In 2012, McFadden was diagnosed with logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia, a type of Alzheimer’s disease that affects a person’s memory of words, and shortly thereafter he became one of the first participants in a study of the effects of aerobic exercise on people already affected by dementia.[2]

Works

Poetry

Fiction

Travel

References

  1. 1 2 3 "David W. McFadden: Biography". Canadian Poetry Online. University of Toronto Libraries. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "Life with dementia: a poet loses his words". UHN. University Health Network. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
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