John Barton (born 1957) is a Canadian

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 ...

Early life

Barton was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1957 but was raised in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Education

Barton studied at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

University of Quebec A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, Victoria University, and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in New York. He originally wanted to study architecture but did poorly in calculus and was enrolled in English courses in the Faculté Saint-Jean at the

. He became a poet upon realization that there were fewer factors affecting his ability to excel in his chosen vocation. In 1986, he graduated 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 ...

, with a Master of Library and Information Science. Also, Barton studied Book Editing at the Banff Publishing Centre in 1994. Barton studied poetry with

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 ...

, Gary Geddes,

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 ...

Joseph Brodsky Iosif Aleksandrovich Brodsky (; russian: link=no, Иосиф Александрович Бродский ; 24 May 1940 – 28 January 1996) was a Russian and American poet and essayist. Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR in 1940, ...

, and Daniel Halpern.

Career

Barton has written ten books of poetry. Since 1980 his poems have appeared in seventy-five magazines and thirty anthologies in North America, the United Kingdom, India, and Australia. Barton was co-editor of ''

Arc Poetry Magazine ''Arc Poetry Magazine'' is a triannual literary magazine established in 1978, publishing poetry and prose about poetry. History ''Arc'' was started in 1978 by Carleton University professors Christopher Levenson, Michael Gnarowski and Tom Henigh ...

'' from 1990 to 2003. He edits ''The Malahat Review'' and was poetry editor for Winnipeg's Signature Editions from 2006 5 to 2008. He co-founded the Poem of the Year Contest in 1996. He was writer-in-residence at the

Saskatoon Public Library The Saskatoon Public Library is a publicly funded library system in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is available for use by any member of the public; library cards are free for all Saskatonians. Saskatoon Public Library was established in 1913 ...

from September 2008 to May 2008. During the 2010/11 academic year, he was writer-in-residence at University of New Brunswick and in the fall 2015 term, at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Additionally he worked as a librarian and editor for five museums in Ottawa between 1986 and 2003. He has lived in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

since 2004. He and

Billeh Nickerson Billeh Nickerson (born February 14, 1972) is a Canadian writer, editor, performer, producer and arts advocate. Personal life Nickerson was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, grew up in Langley, British Columbia, lived in Toronto, Ontario, and currently ...

co-edited the anthology ''Seminal: The Anthology of Canada’s Gay Male Poets'', published in 2007 by

Arsenal Pulp Press Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, focusing primarily on underrepresented genres such as und ...

. In 2012 his ''Selected Poems'' were published by Nightwood.

Awards

* 1986: Patricia Hackett Prize, University of Western Australia * 1988:

Archibald Lampman Award The Archibald Lampman Award is an annual Canadian literary award, created by Blaine Marchand, and presented by the literary magazine '' Arc'', for the year's best work of poetry by a writer living in the National Capital Region. History The ...

, for ''West of Darkness: Emily Carr, a self-portrait'' * 1995:

, for ''Designs from the Interior'' * 1995:

Ottawa Book Award Ottawa Book Award and Prix du livre d'Ottawa is a Canadian literary award presented by the City of Ottawa to the best English and French language books written in the previous year by a living author residing in Ottawa.

* 1999:

, for ''Sweet Ellipsis'' * 2003: CBC Literary Award (Second Prize) * 2006: National Magazine Award (Silver) * 2019: Victoria's Poet Laureate

Works

Poetry

*1981: ''A Poor Photographer''. Sono Nis Press * 1984: ''Hidden Structure'. Ekstasis Editions *1987: ''West of Darkness: Emily Carr, a Self-Portrait.'' Penumbra Press *1993: *1994: *1998: *1999: *2001: *2009: ''Hymn''. Brick Books *2012: ''For the Boy with the Eyes of the Virgin: Selected Poems''. Nightwood Editions *2014: ''Polari''. Goose Lane Editions

Chapbooks

*1995: ''Destinations, Leaving the Map'', above/ground press *1999: ''Oxygen'', above/ground press *1999: *2003: *2004 ''Asymmetries'', Frog Hollow Press Book One: House of the Present; Book Two: The Strata. *2012: ''Balletomane: The Program Notes of Lincoln'' Kirstein. JackPine *2016: ''Reframing Paul Cadmus: Pictures from an Exhibition''. above/ground press

Criticism

*"Trends in Canadian Poetry", ''Educational Insights'', 11(1)

Editor

* *

References

External links

''Canadian Poets'', University of Toronto"John Barton - Interview", ''Literary Photographer'', October 24, 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, John 1957 births Living people 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets Writers from Edmonton University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian gay writers Canadian LGBT poets Canadian anthologists University of Alberta alumni University of Calgary alumni University of Victoria alumni Columbia University alumni 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian male writers Poets Laureate of places in Canada