Patrick Lane (March 26, 1939 – March 7, 2019) was a Canadian poet."Patrick Lane"
''

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 f ...

'', February 10, 2008. He had written in several other genres, including essays, short stories, and was the author of the novel ''Red Dog, Red Dog''.

Biography

Born in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, British Columbia, he attended high school in Vernon and had no further formal education.patricklane.ca
-- Patrick Lane's website, profile (retrieved July 11, 2007) He first began writing poetry seriously in 1960. During his twenties, he held a series of difficult jobs in the logging industry in the northern part of the province—as a choker, truck driver, Industrial First Aid man,

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

worker, salesman and so on. In 1965, he moved to Vancouver and began to connect with other poets of his generation. Lane, Bill Bissett and

Seymour Mayne Seymour Mayne (born 1944 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian author, editor, or translator of more than seventy books and monographs. As he has written about the Jewish Canadian poets, his work is recognizable by its emphasis on the human dimension, ...

founded the small-press publisher Very Stone House in 1966. In 1968, Lane's first marriage ended and he moved to South America to dedicate himself completely to writing. When he returned, he remarried and established a home in the Okanagan Valley in 1972. In 1974 he and his wife moved to the Sunshine Coast. After a second divorce in 1978, he became Writer-in-Residence at

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Lorna Crozier Lorna Crozier, OC (born 24 May 1948) is a Canadian poet who holds the Head Chair in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria. She has authored fifteen books and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2011. She is credited as ...

. Also in 1978, Lane won the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual List of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. Th ...

for his collection ''Poems, New and Selected''. Lane lived for many years with Crozier in

Saanichton Saanichton, British Columbia is a village, in the municipality of Central Saanich, located between Victoria and the BC Ferry Terminal, west of the Pat Bay Highway (Hwy 17), at the junction of Mount Newton Cross Road and East Saanich Road. Saani ...

, British Columbia, where he tended a garden of that has been featured on the television program ''

Recreating Eden ''Recreating Eden'' is a Canadian lifestyle and gardening television documentary program. Its aim is to examine the physical, mental, and spiritual healing effects that gardens have on their keepers History ''Recreating Eden'' was originally broa ...

'',patricklane.ca
- Patrick Lane's website, home (retrieved July 11, 2007) and which he wrote about in the memoir ''There is a Season''. He participated in Dial-A-Poem Montreal from 1985 to 1987. From 1986 to 1990, Lane taught creative writing and Canadian literature courses at the

University of Saskatchewan 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, ...

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

, Saskatchewan, and later taught at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

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. The ...

from 1991 to 2004. When he retired from formal teaching, he was still an adjunct professor at UVic and frequently led retreats and workshops for writers. In 2007, he was awarded the fourth annual

Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence The Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence is administered by the BC Book Prizes and recognizes a writer who has contributed significantly to the development of literary excellence in British Columbia, as well as having written a substa ...

for his lifetime contribution to literature in British Columbia.BC Book Prizes
/ref> His novel ''Red Dog, Red Dog'' appeared in 2008. A recovering alcoholic and cocaine user, Lane wrote about his struggles with dependency in ''Addicted: Notes From the Belly of the Beast'', which he co-edited with Crozier, and in ''There is a Season''. On November 21, 2014, Governor General David Johnston presented Patrick Lane with the Order of Canada, recognizing his more than 50 years of contribution to Canadian poetry and literature. His latest book "Washita", was nominated for the 2015 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry. He had five children, three from his first marriage and two from his second. He was the brother of poet Red Lane. He lived the latter part of his life in the

Victoria, BC 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. The ...

area and died on March 7, 2019, aged 79 .

Bibliography

*''Letters from the Savage Mind'' – 1966 *''Separations'' – 1969 *"Calgary City Jail" – 1969 *"On the Street" – 1970 *''Mountain Oysters'' – 1971 *''The Sun Has Begun to Eat the Mountain'' – 1972 *"Passing into Storm" – 1973 *''Beware the Months of Fire'' – 1974 *"certs" – 1974 *''Unborn Things: South American Poems" – 1975 *"Albino Pheasants" – 1977 *''Poems, New and Selected'' – 1978 (winner of the 1978 Governor General's Award) *''No Longer Two People'' – 1979 (with Lorna Crozier) *''The Measure'' – 1980 *''Old Mother'' – 1982 *''Woman in the Dust'' – 1983 *''A Linen Crow, A Caftan Magpie'' – 1984 *''Selected Poems'' – 1987 *''Milford and Me'' – 1989 *''Winter'' – 1989 (nominated for a

) *''Mortal Remains'' – 1991 (nominated for a

) *''How Do You Spell Beautiful? And Other Stories'' – 1992 *"Praise" – 1993 *''Too Spare, Too Fierce'' – 1995 (winner of the

Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, established in 1986, is awarded annually to the best collection of poetry by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. One of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, the award was originally known as the B.C. Prize for Poetry. ...

) *''Selected Poems'' – 1997 *''The Bare Plum of Winter Rain'' – 2000 (nominated for the

) *''There is a Season'' – 2004 (nominated for the

Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize The Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, established in 1985, is awarded annually as the BC Book Prize for the best non-fiction book by a resident of British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three ...

) :published in the US as ''What the Stones Remember: A Life Rediscovered'' 2004 (nominated for Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award for Non-fiction) *''Go Leaving Strange'' – 2005 – (nominated for the

) *''Red Dog, Red Dog'' – 2008 *''Witness: Selected Poems 1962–2010'' – 2010 *''The Collected Poems of Patrick Lane'' – 2011 *''Washita'' – 2014 *''Deep River Night'' - 2018

Edited with Lorna Crozier

*''Breathing Fire'' – 1995 *''Addicted: Notes from the Belly of the Beast'' – 2001 *''Breathing Fire 2'' – 2004

References

External links

* Archives of Patrick Lan
(Patric Lane fonds, R16154)
are held at Library and Archives Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Patrick 1939 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets Canadian literary critics Canadian male novelists Canadian non-fiction writers Governor General's Award-winning poets University of Victoria faculty Writers from British Columbia People from Nelson, British Columbia Canadian male non-fiction writers