David O'Meara (born
Pembroke, Ontario
Pembroke ( ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario at the confluence of the Muskrat River (Ontario), Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley, northwest of Ottawa. Though containing the administrative headquarters of Renfre ...
) 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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
. Since 2024 he has been the English-language poet laureate of
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, Ontario.
Life
He was raised in
Pembroke, Ontario
Pembroke ( ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario at the confluence of the Muskrat River (Ontario), Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley, northwest of Ottawa. Though containing the administrative headquarters of Renfre ...
. He lives in
Sandy Hill,
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, where he tends bar at The Manx Pub. He is known as the Awkward Brother of Canadian Poetry.
O'Meara was a judge for the 2012
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is a Canadian poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin.
Before 2022, two separate awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. I ...
.
Awards
* Gerald Lampert Award, for ''Storm Still''
* 2004
Lampman-Scott Award
The Archibald Lampman Award is an annual Canada, Canadian literary award, created by Blaine Marchand, and presented by the literary magazine ''Arc Poetry Magazine, Arc'', for the year's best work of poetry by a writer living in the National Capit ...
, for ''The Vicinity''
Works
Poetry
"Traffic"; "Rain" ''Drunken Boat'', Spring 2001
*
*
*
*
Plays
* DISASTER
Music
"Sing Song" a collaboration with the Ottawa-based grou
"the HILOTRONS" based on his poetry collection, A Pretty Sight.
Criticism
*
His poem "Field Crossing" , which appeared in the collection Storm Still, has been set to music by Ottawa-born composer C. Scott Tresham. The work, entitled "Field-Crossing:A Pastoral Cantata for Unaccompanied Chorus, was commissioned by the Ottawa Choral Society, and premiered by the choir in 2003, under the direction of conductor Iwan Edwards.
References
External links
"David O'Meara at the Ottawa International Writers Festival, spring 2009", ''Brick Books''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121107020503/http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/arts/story.html?id=e393b7b8-f2d1-4e72-b52d-747d21458cc1&p=1 "Downtown poet is no backyard man", ''Ottawa Citizen'', May 5, 2007]
"David O'Meara", ''Kingston's Writers Fest''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omeara, David
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
21st-century Canadian poets
People from Pembroke, Ontario
Poets from Ottawa
Canadian male poets
21st-century Canadian male writers