Susan Musgrave (born March 12, 1951) 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 ...

and

children's writer 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 ...

. She was born in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, to Canadian parents, and currently lives in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, dividing her time between Sidney and

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Hecat ...

. She has been nominated several times for Canada's Governor General literary awards. Musgrave left school at 14, and had her first works published at 16. In 1986, at a wedding held in prison, she married Stephen Reid, a writer, convicted

bank robber Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank Branch (banking), branch or Bank teller, tell ...

and former member of the infamous band of thieves known as the Stopwatch Gang. Their relationship was chronicled in 1999 in the CBC series '' The Fifth Estate''. Musgrave defended

Al Purdy Alfred Wellington Purdy (December 30, 1918 – April 21, 2000) was a 20th-century Canadian free verse poet. Purdy's writing career spanned fifty-six years. His works include thirty-nine books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four b ...

's collection of poetry, ''Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets: Selected Poems, 1962–1996'', in '' Canada Reads 2006'', a nationally broadcast radio "battle of the books" competition. She currently teaches creative writing in the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

's optional residency

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

program. Musgrave's archives are held by the

William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

Bibliography

Poetry

*''Songs of the Sea-Witch'' — 1970 *''Entrance of the Celebrant'' — 1972 *''Grave-Dirt and Selected Strawberries'' — 1973 *''Gullband Thought Measles was a Happy Ending'' — 1974 *''The Impstone'' — 1976 *''Selected Strawberries and Other Poems'' — 1977 *''Kiskatinaw Songs'' — 1978 *''Becky Swan's Book'' — 1978 *''A Man to Marry, A Man to Bury'' — 1979 (nominated for a

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

) *''Tarts and Muggers'' — 1982 *''Right through the Heart'' — 1982 *''Cocktails at the Mausoleum'' — 1985 *''The Embalmer's Art'' — 1991 *''Forcing the Narcissus'' — 1994 *''Things That Keep and Do Not Change'' — 1999 *''What the Small Day Cannot Hold: Collected Poems 1970-1985'' — 2000 *''When the World Is Not Our Home: Selected Poems 1985-2000'' — 2009 *''Obituary of Light: the Sangan River Meditations'' — 2009 *''Origami Dove'' — 2011

Fiction

*''The Charcoal Burners'' — 1980 (nominated for a

) *''The Dancing Chicken'' — 1987 *''Cargo of Orchids'' — 2000 *''Given'' — 2012

Non-fiction

*''Great Musgrave'' — 1989 *''Musgrave Landing: Musings on the Writing Life'' — 1994 *''You're in Canada Now... Motherfucker: A Memoir of Sorts'' — 2005 *''A Taste of Haida Gwaii: Food Gathering and Feasting at the Edge of the World — 2015''

Children's literature

*''Gullband'' — 1980 *''Hag Head'' — 1980 *''Kestrel and Leonardo'' — 1990 *''Dreams Are More Real than Bathtubs'' — 1998 *''Kiss, Tickle, Cuddle, Hug" — 2012 *''Love You More'' — 2012

Compiled or edited by Musgrave

*''Because You Loved Being a Stranger: 55 Poets Celebrate Patrick Lane'' — 1994 *''Nerves Out Loud: Critical Moments in the Lives of Seven Teen Girls'' — 2001 *''You Be Me: Friendship in the Lives of Teen Girls'' — 2002 *''The Fed Anthology'' — 2003 *''Certain Things About My Mother: Daughters Speak'' — 2003 *''Perfectly Secret: The Hidden Lives of Seven Teen Girls'' — 2004

Song lyrics

*"Ode to the missing but not forgotten" — 2006 (performed by the guitarist Brad Prevedoros and singer Amber Smith)

References

External links

Susan Musgrave's website
*
Musgrave
at "English-Canadian writers",

Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...

, by J. McKay. Additional Link: Bibliography of works about Musgrave * {{DEFAULTSORT:Musgrave, Susan 1951 births Living people 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian children's writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women poets Canadian women children's writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers