Canadian poetry is

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

of or typical of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The term encompasses poetry written in Canada or by Canadian people in the

official languages An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French, and an increasingly prominent body of work in both other European and

Indigenous languages An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not neces ...

. Although English Canadian poetry began to be written soon after

European colonization The historical phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Turks, and the Arabs. Colonialism in the modern sense began ...

began, many of English-speaking Canada’s first celebrated poets come from the Confederation period of the mid to late 19th century. In the 20th century, Anglo-Canadian poets embraced European and American poetic innovations, such as

Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

Confessional poetry Confessional poetry or "Confessionalism" is a style of poetry that emerged in the United States during the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is sometimes classified as a form of Postmodernism. It has been described as poetry of the personal or "I", ...

Postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

New Formalism New Formalism is a late 20th- and early 21st-century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical, rhymed verse and narrative poetry on the grounds that all three are necessary if American poetry is to compete with novels an ...

Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

and

Visual poetry Literary theorists have identified visual poetry as a development of concrete poetry but with the characteristics of intermedia in which non-representational language and visual elements predominate. Differentiation from concrete poetry As the l ...

, and

Slam Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements * S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe * SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...

, but always turned to a uniquely Canadian perspective. The minority

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

poetry, primarily from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, blossomed in the 19th century, moving through Modernism and

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

in the 20th century, to develop a unique voice filled with passion, politics and vibrant imagery.

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, with its exposure to both English and French poetry, became a hotbed of poetic progress with movements such as the

Montreal Group The Montreal Group, sometimes referred to as the McGill Group or McGill Movement,Dean Irvine,Montreal Group" ''Oxford Companion to Canadian History''. Answers.com, Web, March 25, 2011. was a circle of Canadian modernist literature, modernist writers ...

and

Les Automatistes Les Automatistes were a group of Québécois artistic dissidents from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The movement was founded in the early 1940s by painter Paul-Émile Borduas. Les Automatistes were so called because they were influenced by Surrea ...

, and notable poets such as

Irving Layton Irving Peter Layton, OC (March 12, 1912 – January 4, 2006) 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) ...

and

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

(centered on the Bohemian Embassy Coffee House and bpNichol’s

grOnk ''grOnk'', or GRoNK, was a Canadian literary magazine begun in 1967 by bpNichol and others (for example, David Aylward, David W. Harris (later David UU; co-editor for the first series (8 issues, 1967), and editor of most of the seventh series ( ...

) and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

(with the Downtown Poets and the

TISH ''TISH'' was a Canadian poetry newsletter founded by student-poets at the University of British Columbia in 1961. The publication was edited by a number of Vancouver poets until 1969. The newsletter's poetics were built on those of writers associa ...

group) also developed as important poetry centers. In the later 20th century, a growing awareness of Native identity coupled with the struggle for

Indigenous rights Indigenous rights are those rights that exist in recognition of the specific condition of the Indigenous peoples. This includes not only the most basic human rights of physical survival and integrity, but also the rights over their land (includ ...

, fostered the growth of writing by Native Canadians.

English-Canadian poetry

Beginnings

The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an audience. One of the first works was

Robert Hayman Robert Hayman (14 August 1575 – November 1629) was a poet, colonist and Proprietary Governor of Bristol's Hope colony in Newfoundland. Early life and education Hayman was born in Wolborough near Newton Abbot, Devon, the eldest of nine ch ...

's ''Quodlibets'', composed in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and published in 1628. With the growth of English language communities near the end of the 18th century, poetry aimed at local readers began to appear in local newspapers. These writings were mainly intended to reflect the prevailing cultural values of the time and were modeled after

poetry of the same period. Oliver Goldsmith's long poem ''The Rising Village'' appeared in 1825. It was a response to ''

The Deserted Village ''The Deserted Village'' is a poem by Oliver Goldsmith published in 1770. It is a work of social commentary, and condemns rural depopulation and the pursuit of excessive wealth. The poem is written in heroic couplets, and describes the decline ...

'' by his namesake and great-uncle

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

. In the first half of the 19th century, poetic works began to reflect local subjects. ''Acadia'' by

Joseph Howe Joseph Howe (December 13, 1804 – June 1, 1873) was a Nova Scotian journalist, politician, public servant, and poet. Howe is often ranked as one of Nova Scotia's most admired politicians and his considerable skills as a journalist and writer ha ...

and ''The Saint Lawrence and the Saguenay'' by

Charles Sangster Charles Sangster (July 16, 1822 – December 9, 1893) was a Canadian poet. He was the first poet to write poetry which was substantially about Canadian subjects. ''The Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' calls him "the best of the pre- confeder ...

are examples of this trend. Early nationalistic verses were composed by writers including

Thomas D'Arcy McGee Thomas D'Arcy McGee (13 April 18257 April 1868) was an Irish-Canadian politician, Catholic spokesman, journalist, poet, and a Father of Canadian Confederation. The young McGee was an Irish Catholic who opposed British rule in Ireland, and w ...

. Many "regional" poets also espoused the British political and aesthetic

jingoism Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inte ...

of the period. For example, High Tory loyalist & occasional poet Thomas H. Higginson of Vankleek Hill, Ontario, produced

paean A paean () is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice (monody). It comes from the Greek παιάν (also πα� ...

s to Sir

Francis Bond Head Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet KCH PC (1 January 1793 – 20 July 1875), known as "Galloping Head", was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837. Biography Head was an officer in the corps of Royal Engineers of ...

(Wm. Lyon Mackenzie's opponent) and the British war effort in the

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

(such as ''Sonnet to

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...

'' and others), while producing some interesting nature verse exemplifying the all-pervasive influence of

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

's view of nature and the sublime. In 1857,

Charles Heavysege Charles Heavysege (May 2, 1816 – July 14, 1876) was a Canadian poet and dramatist. He was one of the earliest poets to publish in Canada. He is known for his critically acclaimed play ''Saul''.Charles Heavysege
" ''Gale Encyclopedia of Biography'', Answers.com. Web, Mar. 12, 2011.

Confederation

The first book of poetry published in Canada following the formation of the new Dominion of

in 1867 was ''Dreamland'' by Charles Mair (1868). A group of poets now known as the " Confederation Poets", including Charles G. D. Roberts, Archibald Lampman,

Bliss Carman William Bliss Carman (April 15, 1861 – June 8, 1929) was a Canadian poet who lived most of his life in the United States, where he achieved international fame. He was acclaimed as Canada's poet laureate during his later years. In Canada, Car ...

Duncan Campbell Scott Duncan Campbell Scott (August 2, 1862 – December 19, 1947) was a Canadian civil servant and poet and prose writer. With Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Archibald Lampman, he is classed as one of Canada's Confederation Poets. A care ...

, and

William Wilfred Campbell William Wilfred Campbell (1 June ca. 1860 – 1 January 1918) was a Canadian poet. He is often classed as one of the country's Confederation Poets, a group that included fellow Canadians Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, Archibald Lampman, a ...

, came to prominence in the 1880s and 1890s. Choosing the world of nature as their inspiration, their work was drawn from their own experiences and, at its best, written in their own tones.

Isabella Valancy Crawford Isabella Valancy Crawford (25 December 1846 – 12 February 1887) was an Irish-born Canadian writer and poet. She was one of the first Canadians to make a living as a freelance writer. "Crawford is increasingly being viewed as Canada's first maj ...

, Frederick George Scott, and Francis Sherman are also sometimes associated with this group. During this period,

E. Pauline Johnson Emily Pauline Johnson (10 March 1861 – 7 March 1913), also known by her Mohawk language, Mohawk stage name ''Tekahionwake'' (pronounced ''dageh-eeon-wageh'', ), was a Canadians, Canadian poet, author, and performer who was popular in the lat ...

and

William Henry Drummond William Henry Drummond (April 13, 1854 – April 6, 1907) was an Irish-born Canadian poet whose humorous dialect poems made him "one of the most popular authors in the English-speaking world," and "one of the most widely-read and loved poets" ...

were writing popular poetry - Johnson's based on her part-

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

heritage, and Drummond, the Poet of the Habitant, writing dialect verse.

Early 20th century

In 1907

Robert W. Service Robert William Service (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a British-Canadian poet and writer, often called "the Bard of the Yukon". The middle name 'William' was in honour of a rich uncle. When that uncle neglected to provide for hi ...

's ''

Songs of a Sourdough ''Songs of a Sourdough'' is a book of poetry published in 1907 by Robert W. Service. In the United States, the book was published under the title ''The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses''. The book is well known for its verse about the Klondi ...

'',

Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...

-type verse about the Klondike Gold Rush, became enormously popular: the book would go on to sell more than three million copies in the 20th century. His success would be inspired many other poets, such as

Tom MacInnes Thomas Robert Edward MacInnes (né McInnes) (October 29, 1867 – February 11, 1951) was a Canadian poet and writer whose writings ranged from "vigorous, slangy recollections of the Yukon gold rush" (''Lonesome Bar,'' 1909) to "a translation ...

Marjorie Pickthall Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall (14 September 1883, in Gunnersbury, London – 22 April 1922, in Vancouver), was a Canadian writer who was born in England but lived in Canada from the time she was seven.Barbara Godard,Pickthall, Marjorie Lowry ...

received much critical attention in this period. In 1915,

John McCrae Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918) was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I, and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. He is best known for writing the ...

, serving as a surgeon in the Canadian Army, wrote the famous war poem "

In Flanders Fields "In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and f ...

". After the war, in Newfoundland,

E. J. Pratt Edwin John Dove Pratt (February 4, 1882 – April 26, 1964), who published as E. J. Pratt, was "the leading Canadian poet of his time."

described the struggle to make a living from the sea in poems about maritime life and the history of Canada; while in central Canada, poets such as

Ralph Gustafson Ralph Barker Gustafson, CM (16 August 1909 – 29 May 1995) was a Canadian poet and professor at Bishop's University. Biography He was born in Lime Ridge, near Dudswell, Quebec on August 16, 1909. His mother was British, his father, Carl ...

and

Raymond Knister John Raymond Knister (27 May 1899 – 29 August 1932) was a Canadian poet, novelist, story writer, columnist, and reviewer, "known primarily for his realistic narratives set in rural Canada ... Knister was a highly respected member of t ...

were moving away from traditional verse forms. During the 1920s and 1930s, the

(a circle of young poets which included

A.J.M. Smith Arthur James Marshall Smith (November 8, 1902 – November 21, 1980) was a Canadian poet and anthologist. He "was a prominent member of a group of Montreal poets" – the Montreal Group, which included Leon Edel, Leo Kennedy, A. M. Klei ...

, A.M. Klein, and

F. R. Scott Francis Reginald Scott (1899–1985), commonly known as Frank Scott or F. R. Scott, was a lawyer, Canadian poet, intellectual, and constitutional scholar. He helped found the first Canadian social democratic party, the Co-operative Commonwe ...

) helped inspire the development of

modernist poetry Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases ...

through the ''McGill Fortnightly Review'' and the 1936 anthology '' New Provinces''. The "new poetry" valued intellect over sentimentality, or as some have put it, logic over human emotions. Under the literary editorship of

Earle Birney Earle Alfred Birney (13 May 1904 – 3 September 1995) was a Canadian poet and novelist, who twice won the Governor General's Award, Canada's top literary honour, for his poetry. Life Born in Calgary, Alberta, and raised on a farm in Eri ...

, the ''Canadian Forum'' helped promote similar developments in

Dorothy Livesay Dorothy Kathleen May Livesay, (October 12, 1909 – December 29, 1996) was a Canadian poet who twice won the Governor General's Award in the 1940s, and was "senior woman writer in Canada" during the 1970s and 1980s.Mathews, R.D.. "Dorothy L ...

, born in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, was an important contributor to the Toronto movement. The Maritimes remained a holdout for traditional verse.

The Song Fishermen The Song Fishermen, or the Song Fishermen's Circle (1928–1930), was an informal group of poets from Atlantic Canada that included the famous Canadian poets Bliss Carman and Charles G. D. Roberts. History The group was led by Andrew and T ...

of Halifax were a magnet for new poetic talent in the late 1920s due to having Bliss Carman and Charles G.D. Roberts as members. The most notable of the new poets were the sonneteers

Kenneth Leslie Kenneth Leslie (1892–1974) was a Canadian poet and songwriter, and an influential political activist in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s. He was the founder and editor of ''The Protestant Digest'' (later ''The Protestant''), which ...

and Robert Norwood. The ''Canadian Poetry Magazine'' was founded by

Pelham Edgar Oscar Pelham Edgar (17 March 1871 – 7 October 1948) was a Canadian teacher. He was a full professor and head of the Department of English at the Victoria College, Toronto from 1910 to 1938. He wrote many articles and several monographs on Eng ...

of the

Canadian Authors Association The Canadian Authors Association is Canada's oldest association for writers and authors. The organization has published several periodicals, organized local chapters and events for Canadian writers, and sponsors writing awards, including the Gover ...

in 1936. Traditional verse was what sold in Canada all through this period; and it was what ''Canadian Poetry Magazine'' emphasized.

Wilson MacDonald Wilson Pugsley MacDonald (May 5, 1880 – April 8, 1967) was a popular Canadian poet who "was known mainly in his own time for his considerable platform abilities" as a reader of his poetry. By reading fees, and by selling his books at readings, ...

was a top selling Canadian poet of the time.

Post-war

Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a new breed of poets appeared, writing for a well-educated audience. These included

James Reaney James Crerar Reaney, (September 1, 1926 – June 11, 2008) 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 a ...

Jay Macpherson Jean Jay Macpherson (June 13, 1931 – March 21, 2012) was a Canadian lyric poet and scholar. '' The Encyclopædia Britannica'' calls her "a member of 'the mythopoeic school of poetry,' who expressed serious religious and philosophical themes in ...

and

. Meanwhile, some maturing authors such as

Raymond Souster Raymond Holmes Souster (January 15, 1921 – October 19, 2012) was a Canadian poet whose writing career spanned over 70 years. More than 50 volumes of his own poetry were published during his lifetime, and he edited or co-edited a dozen volumes ...

, Harold Standish and

Louis Dudek Louis Dudek, (February 6, 1918 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian poet, academic, and publisher known for his role in defining Modernism in poetry, and for his literary criticism. He was the author of over two dozen books. In ''A Digital Hist ...

, moved in a different direction, adopting

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...

speech in their work. In the 1960s, a renewed sense of nation helped foster new voices:

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of multiple literary awards such as the Governor General's Award, the Giller P ...

Eli Mandel Eli Mandel (December 3, 1922 – September 3, 1992) was a Canadian poet, editor of many Canadian anthologies, and literary academic. Biography Eli Mandel died in relative obscurity. A series of strokes had left him unable to write and, as a r ...

and

Margaret Avison Margaret Avison, (April 23, 1918 – July 31, 2007) was a Canadian poet who twice won Canada's Governor General's Award and has also won its Griffin Poetry Prize.Michael Gnarowski,Avison, Margaret" ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Edmonton: Hurtig ...

. Others such as

Al Purdy Alfred Wellington Purdy (December 30, 1918 – April 21, 2000) 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 b ...

Milton Acorn Milton James Rhode Acorn (March 30, 1923 – August 20, 1986), nicknamed ''The People's Poet'' by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. Early life He was born in Prince Edward Island, and grew up in Charlottetown. He joined the ...

, and

, already published, produced some of their best work during this period. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw greater experimentation from poets such as bpNichol,

David UU David UU (pronounced David W.), or David W. Harris, (1948–1994) was an accomplished concrete and experimental poet and an important small press publisher. Along with Bill Bissett and bpNichol, he was a pioneer of the concrete poetry movement in ...

, Joe Rosenblatt,

Steve McCaffery Steven McCaffery (born January 24, 1947) is a Canadian poet and scholar who was a professor at York University. He currently holds the David Gray Chair at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. McCaffery was born in Sheffie ...

Judith Copithorne Judith Copithorne (born 1939) is a Canadian concrete and visual poet. Life and career Judith Copithorne grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, in an artistic family. She started writing and drawing at an early age and, by the time she attende ...

and bill bissett. The

Poetry movement in Vancouver brought about poetic innovation from

Jamie Reid Jamie Reid (born 16 January 1947 in London, United Kingdom) is an English artist and anarchist. Career His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper headlines in the style of a ransom note, came close to defining the image of punk rock, p ...

George Bowering George Harry Bowering, (born December 1, 1935) is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He was the first Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. He was born in Penticton, British Columbia, and raised in the nearby town o ...

Fred Wah Frederick James Wah, OC, (born January 23, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, scholar and former Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. Life Wah was born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, but grew up in the interior (West Kootenay) of British Columbi ...

Frank Davey Frankland Wilmot Davey, FRSC (born April 19, 1940) is a Canadian poet and scholar. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he grew up in the Fraser Valley village of Abbotsford. In 1957 he enrolled at the University of British Columbia where, in 1 ...

Daphne Marlatt Daphne Marlatt, born Buckle, CM (born July 11, 1942 in Melbourne, Australia), is a Canadian poet and novelist who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. At a young age her family moved to Malaysia and at age nine they moved to British Columbia, ...

David Cull David Charles Cull (1 April 1950 – 27 April 2021) was the mayor of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand. He became the 57th Mayor of Dunedin in October 2010 and was re-elected in both the 2013 mayoralty race and 2016 mayoral election. Before ...

, and Lionel Kearns. Since the 1990s, several

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

-winning poets, in particular Jan Zwicky and Tim Lilburn, have been engaged in nonfiction writing that maps the relationships between poetry and philosophy. Zwicky's "Lyric Philosophy" and "Wisdom and Metaphor", as well as Lilburn's collection "Thinking and Singing", are representative works. A younger generation of Canadian poets has been expanding the boundaries of originality:

Brian Brett Brian Brett (born 28 April 1950) is a Canadian poet, journalist, editor and novelist.Brian Brett< ...

, Ken Babstock,

Karen Solie Karen Solie (born 1966) is a Canadian poet. Born in Moose Jaw, Solie grew up on the family farm in southwest Saskatchewan. Over the years, she has worked as a farm hand, an espresso jerk, a groundskeeper, a newspaper reporter/photographer, an acad ...

Lynn Crosbie Lynn Crosbie (born 7 August 1963) is a Canadian poet and novelist. She teaches at the University of Toronto. Life and career Crosbie was born in Montreal, Quebec, and now lives in Toronto, Ontario. She received her PhD in English from the Univer ...

, Patrick Lane,

Stuart Ross Stuart Ross is a Canadian fiction writer, poet, editor, and creative-writing instructor. Ross was born in Toronto's north end in 1959 and grew up in the Borough of North York. He began writing at a very young age and was first published at age ...

Sonnet L'Abbé Sonnet L'Abbé, is a Canadian poet, editor, professor and critic. As a poet, L'Abbé writes about national identity, race, gender and language. Career L'Abbé has a PhD in English literature from the University of British Columbia, a master's d ...

George Elliott Clarke George Elliott Clarke, (born February 12, 1960) is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015 and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known larg ...

and Barry Dempster have all imprinted their unique consciousnesses onto the map of Canadian imagery. A notable anthology of Canadian poetry is ''The New Oxford book of Canadian Verse'', edited by Margaret Atwood ().

Literary prizes

Notable literary prizes for English Canadian poetry include the

Governor General's Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

, the

Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...

, the

Gerald Lampert Award The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is made annually by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert Gerald Lampert (c. 1924 - April 29, 1978) w ...

, and the

Pat Lowther Award The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman.Milton Acorn Milton James Rhode Acorn (March 30, 1923 – August 20, 1986), nicknamed ''The People's Poet'' by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. Early life He was born in Prince Edward Island, and grew up in Charlottetown. He joined the ...

, designed to be as irregular and spikey (and Canadian) as a

jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...

tree, but with internal structure and integrity. Of no fixed length and with erratic line lengths, the ''Jackpine Sonnet'' depends on interweaving

internal rhyme In poetry, internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines. By contrast, rhyme between line endings is known as end rhyme. Internal rhyme schemes can be denoted ...

assonance Assonance is a resemblance in the sounds of words/syllables either between their vowels (e.g., ''meat, bean'') or between their consonants (e.g., ''keep, cape''). However, assonance between consonants is generally called ''consonance'' in America ...

and occasional end-

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

Mirelle

reportedly invented "a five-line stanza of his own he called the 'mirelle'."

Viator

The Viator poem form was invented by Canadian author and poet

Robin Skelton Robin Skelton (12 October 1925 – 22 August 1997) was a British-born academic, writer, poet, and anthologist. Biography Born in Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire, Easington, Yorkshire, Skelton was educated at the University of Leeds and Cambr ...

. It consists of any stanzaic form in which the first line of the first stanza is the second line of the second stanza and so on until the poem ends with the line with which it began. The term, ''Viator'' comes from the Latin for ''traveller''. An example of Skelton's form may be found in his reference book, ''The Shapes of our Singing'', and is entitled ''Dover Beach Revisited''.

French-Canadian poetry

Early verse

The first book written in verse by a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

was ''Épîtres, Satires, Chansons, Épigrammes et Autres Pièces de vers'' by

Michel Bibaud Michel Bibaud (19 January 1782 – 3 August 1857) was a Canadian writer and educator in Montreal, Quebec. In 1813 Bibaud began working as a journalist for ''Le Spectateur'' in Montreal. Later he became the founder and editor of ''La Biblioth ...

, published in 1830.

Mouvement littéraire

A group of

French-speaking French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

poets and authors belonging to the Mouvement littéraire came to Ottawa from Quebec City when the civil service moved to Ottawa in 1870. This group included Alfred Garneau,

Antoine Gerin-Lajoie Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...

, Achilles Frechette and others. They are considered some of the most important poets and writers in 19th Century French Canada.

End of 19th century

Octave Crémazie Octave Crémazie (April 16, 1827 – January 16, 1879) was a French Canadian poet and bookseller born in Quebec City. Recognized both during and after his lifetime for his patriotic verse and his significant role in the cultural development of ...

is considered the father of French Canadian poetry. His poetry and that of his follower

Louis Fréchette Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

are romantic of form and patriotic in inspiration. At the same time, Pamphile Le May was writing intimist poetry about the simple farm life and Alfred Garneau wrote his feelings.

The Montreal School

''L'École littéraire de Montréal'' was not a literary school but a group of poets that met regularly. In reaction to the earlier following of the romantic

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

, they took later schools (such as the Parnassian or

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

) as their masters. The group included

Émile Nelligan Émile Nelligan (December 24, 1879 – November 18, 1941) was a Canadian Symbolist poet from Montreal who wrote in French. Even though he stopped writing poetry after being institutionalized at the age of 19, Nelligan remains an iconic figure ...

, a young poet who stopped writing at only 19 years of age due to mental illness.

The ''terroir''

Outside Montreal, other poets, such as

Nérée Beauchemin Charles-Nérée Beauchemin (February 20, 1850 – June 29, 1931) was a French Canadian regionalist poet and physician from Yamachiche, near Trois-Rivières, Quebec. He was part of Quebec's ''Le Terroir'' ("The Soil") school of poetry. Beauc ...

(1850-1931) continued Pamphile Le May's depiction of the life of the ''habitants,'' followed by

Alfred Desrochers Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

(1901-1978), a precursor to the "pays" school of poetry of

Gaston Miron Gaston Miron (; 8 January 1928 – 14 December 1996) was an important poet, writer, and editor of Quebec's Quiet Revolution. His classic ''L'homme rapaillé'' (partly translated as ''The March to Love: Selected Poems of Gaston Miron'', whose ...

. In 1937, Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau published the first book of

in French Canada, ''Regards et Jeux dans l'espace.'' Garneau's reputation increased in the 1950s after publication of his ''Complete Poems'' (1949) - as would that of his cousin, poet

Anne Hébert Anne Hébert (pronounced in French) (August 1, 1916 – January 22, 2000), was a Canadian author and poet. She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry. Early life Hébe ...

(1916-2000).

Surrealism

In 1944, Surrealist

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

travelled to Québec, where he wrote ''Arcane 17''. His visit had a profound effect on Québec literature and provided the impetus for the first

Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

poetry published in Canada, ''Les Sables du rêve'' (The Sands of Dream) by Thérèse Renaud, with drawings by

Jean-Paul Mousseau Jean-Paul Mousseau (January 1, 1927 – February 7, 1991) was a Quebec artist. He was a student of Paul-Émile Borduas, a member of the Automatist group and a founding member of the Association of Non-Figurative Artists of Montreal. Career Jea ...

, published by Les Cahiers de la files indienne in 1946. This was followed by the formation of

movement, a militant group of poets, painters and dancers, and the Surrealist-inspired manifesto

Refus Global Le Refus global ( en, Total Refusal, link=yes) was an anti-establishment and anti-religious manifesto released on August 9, 1948, in Montreal by a group of sixteen young Québécois artists and intellectuals that included Paul-Émile Borduas, Je ...

of 1948.Rosemont, p. 207 A strong Surrealist influence continued in Québec, culminating in the work of poets Paul-Marie Lapointe and Claude Gauvreau.

Notes

References

External links

Poetry in English
at the ''

Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available for ...

''.
Poetry in French
at the ''

''.
Canadian poetry archive

Canadian Poetry Online

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Canadian Poetry Poetry by country

English-Canadian poetry

Beginnings

Confederation

Early 20th century

Post-war

Literary prizes

Mirelle

Viator

French-Canadian poetry

Early verse

Mouvement littéraire

End of 19th century

The Montreal School

The ''terroir''

Surrealism

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links