Robert Priest (born July 10, 1951, in

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) 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 ...

children's author Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

and

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...

. He has written eighteen books of poetry, four children's novels, four children's albums, and six CDs of songs and poems. Under the alias "Dr Poetry", he has also written and performed two seasons of poetry on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's spoken-word show "Wordbeat" and is well known for his aphorisms and the #1 Alannah Myles hit "

Song Instead of a Kiss "Song Instead of a Kiss" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alannah Myles, released as the first single from her second album, ''Rockinghorse'' (1992). The power ballad became her first and only number-one single in Canada, topping the ''RPM ...

". Of his adult poetry, The Pacific Rim Review has written “He is certainly one of the most imaginatively inventive poets in the country,” while critic Bernice Lever has opined “Robert Priest’s poems will speak to many generations.” Robert's children's poetry is also much praised. "His poetry for children is almost miraculous" gushed pre-eminent children's literature critic Michele Landsberg, "It is almost pure celebration." The ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' described his selected poems as "passionate, cocky, alternately adoring and insulting." Priest's plays, novels and songs have earned him awards and recognition in Canadian literary circles and a growing worldwide readership. His 2022 CD of songs ''Love is Hard'' produced by Bob Wiseman is currently streaming worldwide and available for download on '

CDbaby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that " ...

Biography

Born in 1951, his family emigrated to Toronto, Canada, at the age of four. His father spent seven years in the

British Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, and his mother, a part-time standup comedian was a member of the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

(WRNS), popularly known as the Wrens. Growing up in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, Priest developed a love of literature from the fanciful stories his mother often told before bedtime and later from the books available to him from the bookmobile -- a mobile public library. By the age of eight, Priest says, he had already begun to dream of becoming a writer. In 1970 he entered the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

to study mathematics, but, much more compelled to write poetry dropped out after one semester. Since his first book of poetry (''The Visible Man'', 1979), he has published eighteen more books of poetry, four plays, four children's/young adult novels and many articles in Toronto's Now Magazine. He is also a singer/songwriter of note, having released six

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

albums for adults and three collections of children's music. He also wrote and performed numerous children's songs for CBC radio's '' Is Anybody Home'' and for the long-running television show ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''. A song he cowrote with Nancy Simmonds and Alannah Myles was a number one hit in Canada and is still played all around the world. He lives in Toronto with Marsha Kirzner.

Awards and recognition

The author of 23 books of poetry and prose, he won the Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award for ''The Mad Hand'' (1988). Under his "Dr. Poetry" alias, he wrote and performed thirteen segments for CBC radio's spoken-word show ''Wordbeat''. As a songwriter, he co-wrote (with Alannah Myles and Nancy Simmonds) the hit, "

" which rose to the top of the charts for two weeks in Canada and maintained that position for six weeks in Quebec receiving a SOCAN airplay award. It still receives considerable airplay all around the world. His

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...

s have already appeared in the ''

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'' and '' Colombo's Canadian Quotations''. He is the author of four plays, including ''The Coming'', which was co-written with

Leon Rooke Leon Rooke, CM (born September 11, 1934) is a Canadian novelist. He was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina in the United States. Educated at the University of North Carolina, he moved to Canada in 1969. He now lives in Toronto, Ontario. Rook ...

. Priest's musical play ''Minibugs and Microchips'' received a Chalmers Award. His novel, ''Knights of the Endless Day'' (1993) received an Our Choice Award from the

Canadian Children's Book Centre Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) is a national non-profit organization that dedicates its resources to promoting quality Canadian children's literature to parents, librarians, teachers, and youth across Canada. Founded in 1976, the CCBC has l ...

. Among his volumes of children's poetry, ''Daysongs Nightsongs'' and ''The Secret Invasion of Bananas and Other Poems'' (2002) are on a recommended reading list compiled by the CBC.His book of poems ''Reading the Bible Backwards'' (2008 ECW Press) reached number 2 on the Canadian poetry charts its sales exceeded only by Leonard Cohen. His 2013 book of poems for children and young adults ''Rosa Rose'' (Wolsak & Wynn) won a Silver Moonbeam Award and was a book of honour in the Lion and the Unicorn award for poetry in the North American category at Johns Hopkins University while its sequel''The Wolf is Back'' won the Gold Moonbeam Award for best book of children's poems in the Americas. His fantasy trilogy ''Spell Crossed'' was the winner of an Our Choice Award and has been described as a modern classic. A new collection of songs: 'Love is Hard' produced by Bob Wiseman was released this year and is available world-wide on the streaming services and through CDbaby. Robert also co-wrote the lead-off single 'Love Enough' for Julian Taylor's breakout album 'The Ridge. A new book of adult poetry ''If I Didn't Love the River'' will be published in the Fall of 2022 by

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

Selected bibliography

Adult poetry *''The Visible Man'' (1980) Unfinished Monument *''Sadness of Spacemen'' (1980) Dreadnaught *''The Man Who Broke Out of the Letter X'' (1984) Coach House *''The Three Roberts on Childhood'' (1984; Robert Sward and Robert Zend) *''The Mad Hand'' (1988) Coach House *''Scream Blue Living'' (1992) *''Resurrection in the Cartoon'' (1997) ECW Press *''Time Release Poems'' (1997) Ekstasis *''Blue Pyramids:New and Selected Poems'' (2002) ECW Press *''How to Swallow a Pig'' (2004) ECW Press *''Reading the Bible Backwards (Poems: ECW press)'' (2008) *''Previously Feared Darkness (Poems: ECW press)'' (2013) Children's Poetry and Fiction *''The Short Hockey Career of Amazing Jany'' (1986) Aya Press *''The Ruby Hat'' (1987) Aya Press *''Knights of the Endless Day'' (1993)(Penguin Viking) *''A Terrible Case of the Stars'' (Penguin)(1994) *''The Secret Invasion of Bananas and Other Poems'' (2002)(Seraphim) *''Rosa Rose'', with illustrator Joan Krygsman. (Wolsak and Wynn, 2013). *''The Wolf is Back'', with illustrator Joan Krygsman. (Wolsak and Wynn, 2017). *''The Paper Sword'' (Dundurn, 2014), a young-adult fantasy novel. *''Second Kiss'', (Dundurn, 2015) *''Missing Piece'', (Dundurn, 2016) Recordings *''The Robert Priest E.P.'' (Airwave Records) 1982 *''Congo Toronto/Rock Awhile'' (single) Robot Records 1986 *''Broken Star/Still Can't Say Goodbye'' (single) Major Label Records 1987 *''Rottweiler Pacifist'' (songs and poems) Coach House Press/the music Gallery 1990 *''Tongue‘n’Groove'' (‘Spoken Word and song CD’) Artisan Music 1997 *''Feeling the Pinch'' (CDbaby and streaming services) 2012 *''BAAM!'' (CDbaby and streaming services)2017 *''Love is Hard and streaming services'' (CDbaby)2022 Children's Music *''Summerlong'' The Boinks (G-tel) 1984 *''Playsongs and Lullabies'' (children’s music) (The Teds) Waterlily Music 1989 *''Winterlong'' (songs & poems for children) (The Teds, Waterlily Music) 1992 *''Daysongs Nightsongs'' ( children’s songs and poems) Groundwood 1993

External links

*
University of Toronto Library page on Robert Priest

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Priest, Robert 1951 births Living people Canadian male poets Canadian children's writers Writers from Scarborough, Toronto 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian poets