Chris Banks (born 1970) is 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 ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Life

Banks' childhood was spent in the small

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

towns of Stayner,

Sioux Lookout Sioux Lookout is a town in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. Located approximately northwest of Thunder Bay, it has a population of 5,272 people (up 4.7% since 2011), an elevation of , and its boundaries cover an area of , of which is lake and wetl ...

, and Bancroft. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

, before moving on to complete a Masters of Arts in Creative Writing from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

and later a Bachelor of Education from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. Banks later began teaching at Bluevale Collegiate Institute in Waterloo, Ontario.

Works/Books

Banks' works include a chapbook, ''Form Letters'' (2002). His first full-length collection, ''Bonfires'', was awarded the Jack Chalmers Award for poetry by the Canadian Authors' Association in 2004. ''Bonfires'' was also a finalist for 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 ...

for best first book of poetry in Canada. His most recent collection of poems ''Deepfake Serenade'' was published by Nightwood Editions in the fall of 2021. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario, where he writes, and teaches at Bluevale Collegiate Institute.

Awards and recognition

* 2004: Canadian Authors Association, winner of poetry award, ''Bonfires'' * 2004: Finalist for Gerald Lampert Award for poetry, ''Bonfires'' * 2006: Gowlings Literary Award2006 KW Arts Award Winners

Bibliography

*2002: "Form Letters", Junction Books (chapbook) *2003: "Bonfires", Nightwood Editions *2006: "Sparrows and Arrows", Bilbioasis (chapbook) *2006: "The Cold Panes of Surfaces", Nightwood Editions *2011: "Winter Cranes", ECW Press *2015: "Invaders", Anstruther Press, (chapbook) *2017: "The Cloud Versus Grand Unification Theory", ECW Press *2019: "MidLife Action Figure", ECW Press *2021: "Shadow Forecast", Floodlight Editions (chapbook) *2021: "Deep Fake Serenade", Nightwood Editions

References

External links