John Steffler (born November 13, 1947)
is a Canadian poet and novelist. He served as
Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate
The Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate (french: Poète officiel du Parlement du Canada) is the national poet laureate of Canada. The current poet laureate is Louise Bernice Halfe.
The position is an office of the Library of Parliament.
Role
A ...
from 2006 to 2008.
Biography
John Steffler was born 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 ...
,
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 ...
, on November 13, 1947, and grew up in a rural area near
Thornhill. He obtained a B.A. (Honours) in English from University College,
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 ...
, in 1971, and an M.A. in English (1974) 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 ...
, with a thesis titled "The Origin and Development of Los: a Study of the Prophetic Poetry of William Blake".
He taught at the Department of English,
Sir Wilfred Grenfell College
Grenfell Campus, formerly Sir Wilfred Grenfell College, is a campus of the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN). It is located in the city of Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The campus has approximately 1,300 students enroll ...
, from 1975 until 2006. He has served as writer-in-residence and part-time faculty at University of New Brunswick, University of Guelph, and Concordia University, and has facilitated workshops with the Banff Centre and Sage Hill writing programs. After leaving Newfoundland in 2006, Steffler lived in Montreal until 2008, and until 2019 divided his time between Montreal and rural Ontario, where he lives with his wife, poet
Susan Gillis.
Bibliography
Poetry
*''An Explanation of Yellow''. Ottawa: Borealis Press, 1981.
*''The Grey Islands''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1985.
*''The Wreckage of Play''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1988.
*''That Night We Were Ravenous''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1998.
*''The Grey Islands''. London, ON: Brick Books, 2000.
*''Helix: new and selected poems''. Montreal : Signal Editions, 2002.
*''The Grey Islands, unabridged audio edition'' (2007)
*''Lookout''. Plattsburgh, NY: McClelland and Stewart, 2010.
[Search results: John Steffler, Open Library, Web, May 10, 2011.] (shortlisted for the 2011
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. ...
)
*''Forty-One Pages: On Poetry, Language and Wilderness''. Regina: University of Regina Press, 2019.
*''And Yet''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2020.
Novels
*''The Afterlife of
George Cartwright''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1992. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1993.
*''German Mills: A Novel Pertaining to the Life and Times of
William Berczy
William von Moll Berczy (December 10, 1744 – February 5, 1813) was a German-born Upper Canada pioneer and painter. He is considered one of the co-founders of the Town of York, Upper Canada, now Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Biography
Berczy was ...
.'' Gaspereau Press, 2015.
Children's books
*''Flights of Magic''. Victoria: Press Porcepic, 1987.
Anthologies
*''Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada'', ed. Anne Compton, Laurence Hutchman, Ross Leckie and Robin McGrath (Goose Lane Editions, 2002)
''Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Canadian Poetry Online.''["John Steffler: Publications," Canadian Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, May 10, 2011.]
References
External links
John Steffler on the University of Toronto Library Canadian Poets ListGriffin Poetry Prize biography of John Steffler, including video clip"At the Foot of a Wall" from ''That Night We Were Ravenous'', online at CBC Words at LargeJohn Steffler speaks about his appointment as Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate, online at CBC Words at Large (audio)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steffler, John
1947 births
Living people
Canadian Parliamentary Poets Laureate
Writers from Toronto
University of Guelph alumni
University of Toronto alumni
Canadian male poets
Canadian male novelists
Canadian children's writers
20th-century Canadian poets
21st-century Canadian poets
20th-century Canadian novelists
21st-century Canadian novelists
20th-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian male writers
Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners