Randall Maggs 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 and former professor of

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

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 ...

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

, in

Corner Brook, Newfoundland Corner Brook ( 2021 population: 19,333 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador. ...

. He is one of the organizers and now artistic director of the March Hare, the largest literary festival in

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

.Arts Hamilton (September 21, 2008
Randall Maggs
The Lit Live Reading Series. Retrieved on: 2011-09-19.

Early life

Maggs was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. The son of a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

officer, his family lived on bases in Western Canada while he was growing up. He later joined the forces himself as a pilot. He left to travel through Europe and North Africa and then return to university to do graduate work at Dalhousie and the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

Academic and writing career

Since the late 1970s, he has lived on the west coast of Newfoundland, where he taught Literature and Creative Writing at Memorial University's Grenfell College. Maggs' poetry has appeared in the 1994 collection, ''Timely Departures'' (Breakwater) and in several reviews and anthologies, such as ''Poetry Ireland Review'', ''Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada'' and Stephen Brunt's ''The Way It Looks from Here: Contemporary Canadian Writing on Sport'' and the ''March Hare Anthology'' (Breakwater, 2007). He has co-edited two anthologies of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

Newfoundland & Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

poetry: ''However Blow the Winds'' (WIT & Scop, 2004) and ''The Echoing Years'', published in 2007. A collection of poems, entitled ''Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems'', was launched in early 2008 at Toronto's

Hockey Hall of Fame , logo = Hockey Hall of Fame Logo.svg , logo_upright = 0.5 , image = Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto.jpg , caption = The Hall's present location on Yonge Street since 1992 , map_type = , former_name = , established = 1943 , location = 30 Y ...

and included in the Globe and Mail’s “Top 100 Books” for that year.Winterset in Summer, Literary Festival
2011 - Randall Maggs - writer bio
Retrieved on: 2011-09-19. A short film was produced with Randall Maggs, based on his book. Titled "Night Work: A Sawchuk Poem" the 4-minute film was premiered at the launch of the book, screened at the Atlantic Film Festival, and toured nationally with Moving Stories Film Festival. The short is directed by Justin Simms, with a screenplay by Greg Spottiswood, co-produced with Judith Keenan of BookShorts Literacy Program. In 2009, ''Night Work'' won the Winterset Award and E.J. Pratt Poetry Prize, and in 2010, the

Kobzar Literary Award KOBZAR Book Award is a biennial literary award that "recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian literary arts by authors who develop a Ukrainian Canadian theme with literary merit". The prize is . It is awarded in one of several genres: liter ...

. Maggs' close connection with Ireland was recognized in the Spring of 2007 when he was awarded a Coracle Fellowship to work in that country. An accomplished woodworker, he took part in the 2001 Ireland/Newfoundland exhibition, ''Wood: A Sculptual Investigation.'' The Black Rod used in

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

ceremonies is one of his pieces. His daughter

Adriana Maggs Adriana Maggs is a Canadian film and television actress, writer and director, best known for her debut feature film ''Grown Up Movie Star''.Grown Up Movie Star ''Grown Up Movie Star'' is a 2010 Canadian drama film written, directed and co-produced by Adriana Maggs. Shawn Doyle, Jill Knox Gosse and Paul Pope are the other co-producers. The film was produced by Pope Productions and distributed in Canada by ...

''. His brother is former hockey star

Darryl Maggs Darryl John Maggs (born April 6, 1949) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played 135 games in the National Hockey League and 402 games in the World Hockey Association between 1971 and 1980. Career During his career, Maggs pla ...

Poem of the month

Maggs' poem "How things look in a losing streak" was chosen as Poem of the Month on February 11, 2008 by

John Steffler John Steffler (born November 13, 1947) is a Canadian poet and novelist. He served as Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate from 2006 to 2008. Biography John Steffler was born in Toronto, Ontario, on November 13, 1947, and grew up in a rural area n ...

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 ...

.Government of Canada
Poem of the Month
Parliamentary Poet Laureate. Retrieved on: 2013-12-02.

Notes

External links

*Bruce McCurdy (March 17, 2010)
Two Sawchuk Poems
''The Copper and Blue''. *Brick Books
Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems by Randall Maggs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maggs, Randall 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Writers from Newfoundland and Labrador People from Corner Brook Living people 20th-century Canadian male writers Year of birth missing (living people)