Bruce Meyer


Bruce Meyer is a Canadian poet, broadcaster, and educator. He has authored more than 64 books of poetry, short fiction, non-fiction, and literary journalism. He is a professor of Writing and Communications at Georgian College in Barrie and a Visiting Associate at Victoria College at the University of Toronto, where he has taught Poetry, Non-Fiction, and Comparative Literature.
He has appeared on TVO’s More to Life and Big Ideas and CBC’s This Morning with Michael Enright to discuss poetry and the classics. His CBC appearances remain the broadcaster's bestselling spoken-word CD series and inspired his 2000 bestseller The Golden Thread: A Reader’s Journey Through the Great Books.
Recent books of poetry include McLuhan’s Canary '', The First Taste: New and Selected Poems, 1967: Centennial Year, The Madness of Planets , The Arrow of Time , Testing the Elements , A Litany of the Makers , A Book of Bread, and The Obsession Book of Timbuktu''.
From 1996 to 2003, he was Director of the Writing and Literature Program at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies where he created and directed the Creative Writing, Professional Writing, and Literary Studies programs. He has served as the City of Barrie's inaugural poet laureate.
He has organized dozens of literary conferences and festivals including Orillia's Leacock Summer Festival of Canadian Literature, Georgian College's International Festival of Authors and the first Indigenous Writers of Canada Conference, part of 2015's International Festival of Authors in Toronto.
He has given hundreds of talks on poetry, literature, mythology, creative writing, the works of William Shakespeare and the Homeric tradition. In 2000, he delivered the annual Whidden Lecture at McMaster University, a distinction previously bestowed on physicist Robert J. Oppenheimer and playwright Tom Stoppard.
His works have been published in Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Chile, Mexico, Yemen, Greece, Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, and have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Hindi, Chinese, Urdu, Bangla, Greek, and Korean.

Education

Teaching

  • Visiting Professor, Victoria College, University of Toronto, 2013-
  • Professor, University Studies, Liberal Arts, Georgian College, 2007-
  • Professor, Laurentian University at Georgian College, 2004-2015
  • Special Instructor, University of Toronto, St. Michael's College, 2003–2010
  • Professor, Seneca at York Program, 2005

Career Milestones

Select Awards

  • Bath Short Story Award, finalist, 2019, 2020
  • Bannister Poetry Competition, Niagara Branch, Canadian Authors’ Association, runner-up, 2020
  • Libretto Chapbook Poetry Prize, second runner-up, 2020
  • Fish Publishing Short Fiction Prize, finalist, 2020
  • Dr. William Henry Drummond Poetry Prize, third place, 2019
  • Thomas Morton Fiction Prize, runner-up, 2019
  • Bath Short Story Award, finalist, 2019
  • Anton Chekhov Prize for Fiction, winner, 2019
  • Retreat West Fiction Prize, finalist, 2019
  • Tom Gallon Fiction Prize, Society of Authors, short list, 2019
  • National Poetry Prize, short list, 2019
  • London Independent Short Story Prize, double short list, 2018
  • Fish Publishing Poetry Prize, short list, 2018
  • The Woolf Poetry Prize, winner, 2018Freefall Poetry Prize, third place, 2015, 2018
  • Montreal International Poetry Prize, short List, 2015, 2017
  • Simcoe Medal for services to the Arts in Barrie, 2017 & Barrie Arts Award, 2015
  • Raymond Souster Prize, finalist, 2016
  • Carter V. Cooper Short Fiction Prize, short list, 2015, 2016
  • Barrie Arts Awards, Excellence in the Arts, Lifetime Achievement Award, 2015
  • Gwendolyn MacEwen Prize for Poetry, best single poem winner, 2015, 2016
  • Fred Cogswell Prize for best book of poems in Canada, third place, 2015
  • Indie Fab Award Finalist, Independent Reviewers Association, 2015
  • IP Medal best book of poetry, Independent Booksellers Association of America, 2015
  • Inaugural Poet Laureate, City of Barrie, 2010-2014
  • Ruth Cable Memorial Prize for Poetry, 1996
  • E.J. Pratt Gold Medal and Prize for Poetry, 1980, 1981
  • Alta Lind Cook Award, 1981, 1982
  • TV Ontario Best Lecturer Competition, top-ten finalist, 2010
  • Lifetime Pass, Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, New York, 1998
  • Quoted on Heritage Toronto Plaque, Queen and Broadview

Poetry

The Hart Island Elegies, Urban Farmhouse Press, Windsor Grace of Falling Stars, Black Moss Press, Windsor Telling the Bees, Libretto Press, Lagos, Nigeria, 2020McLuhan's Canary, Guernica Editions, Oakville, 2019The First Taste: New and Selected Poems, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 20181967: Centennial Year, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 2017To Linares, Accento and Universidad Technologica Linares, Linares & Guadalajara, Mexico, 2016 The Madness of Planets, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 2015The Arrow of Time, Ronsdale Press, Vancouver, 2015 The Seasons, Porcupine's Quill, Erin, Ontario, 2014Testing the Elements, Exile Editions, Toronto, 2014The Obsession Book of Timbuktu, Black Moss Press, WindsorA Litany of the Makers, Lyrical Myrical Press, Toronto, 2014A Book of Bread, Exile Editions, Toronto, 2011Alphabestiary: A Poetry-Emblem Book '', Exile Editions, 2011Bread: A Mass for Voices, Lyrical Myrical Press, Toronto, 2009Dog Days: A Comedy of Terriers, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 2009Mesopotamia, Scrivener Press, Sudbury, 2009As Yet, Untitled..., Lyrical Myrical Press, Toronto, 2006Oceans, Word Press, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2005Oceans, Exile Editions, Toronto, 2004The Spirit Bride, Exile Editions, Toronto, 2002Anywhere, Exile Editions, Toronto, 2000The Presence, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 1999 The Presence, Story Line Press, Ashland, Oregon, 1999Radio Silence, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 1991The Open Room, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 1989The Open Room, Aquila Press, 1989Steel Valley, Aureole Point Press, 1984The Aging of America, Aloysius Press, 1982The Tongues Between Us'', SWOP, 1981

Fiction

The Hours: Stories from a Pandemic, AOS Publishing, Montreal, 2021Down in the Ground, Guernica Editions, Oakville, 2020A Feast of Brief Hopes, Guernica Editions, Oakville, 2018A Chronicle of Magpies, Tightrope Books, Toronto, 2014Flights, Canadian-Korean Literary Forum Press, Toronto, 2004Goodbye Mr. Spalding, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 1996

Non-Fiction

Pressing Matters: A Story of Canadian Small Press Publishing, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 2019Portraits of Canadian Writers, Porcupine's Quill, Erin, 2016 Time of the Last Goal: Why Hockey is Our Game, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 2014Alphabet Table: Memoir of a Childhood in the Language, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 2010Heroes: The Champions of Our Literary Imaginations, Harper Collins, Toronto, 2007Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 282: The New Formalists, Bruccoli Clarke Layman, Columbia, South Carolina, 2003The Golden Thread: A Reader's Journey Through the Great Books, Harper_Collins Canada, Toronto, 2000Lives and Works: Interviews with Canadian Writers, Black Moss Press, Toronto, 1991In Their Words: Interviews with Canadian Writers, Anansi, Toronto, 1985Poetry Markets for Canadians, League of Canadian Poets, Toronto, 1983

Works edited

That Dammed Beaver: Canadian Comedy Writing, Exile Editions, 2018
  • Dent, W. Redvers. Cry Havoc, Rocks Mills Press, Oakville, 2018     Cli-Fi: Canadian Tales of Climate Change, Exile Editions, Toronto, 2018We Wasn't Pals: Canadian Poetry and Prose of the First World War 2nd Edition, Exile Editions, 2014The White-Collar Book: Canadian Poetry and Prose of the Professional World, Black Moss Press, Windsor, 2011
  • Hanley, James. The German Prisoner. Exile Editions, 2007Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 282: The New Formalists, Bruccoli Clarke Layman, Columbia, South Carolina, 2003Bae-Sa Moh: Writing by Korean-Canadian Youth, KCLF Press, Toronto, 2002We Wasn't Pals: Canadian Poetry and Prose of the First World War, Exile Editions, 2001Separate Islands: Contemporary British and Irish Poetry, Quarry Press, 1987The Selected Poems of Frank Prewett, Exile Editions, 1987Arrivals: Canadian Poetry in the Eighties, Greenfield Press, 1986Poetry Markets for Canadians, League of Canadian Poets, 1986

Edited selected works by other authors

  • Books by Michael Mirolla, Marty Gervais, Victoria Butler, Antonia Facciponte, Kate Story, Karen Lee White, Christine Ottoni.
  • Clarke, James. Selected Poems. Exile Editions, Toronto, 2012
  • Stevens, Peter. Swimming in the Afternoon: The Selected Poems of Peter Stevens. Black Moss Press, Windsor, 1992
  • Monteith, Lionel. And So He Went Sailing: The Collected Poems of Lionel Monteith. Lincoln Publications, London, 1991
  • Tomlinson, Charles. Selected and New Poems. Exile Editions, Toronto, 1989
  • Wevill, David. Figure of Eight: New Poems and Selected Translations. Exile Editions, Toronto, 1987
  • Wevill, David. Other Names for the Heart: Selected Poems, 1964-1984. ExileEditions, Toronto, 1985
  • Deahl, James. No Cold Ash: Selected Poems, 1966–1982. Sono Nis Press, 1984.

Cassette Tapes and CDs

  • Great Poetry: Poetry Is Life and Vice Versa, CBC Radio, 2006The Great Books, Part One, CBC Radio, 1999 The Great Books, Part Two CBC Radio, 1999 The Great Books, Part Three CBC Radio, 1999 .A Novel Idea CBC Radio, 2000 .

Podcasts

Great Poetry, Ideas, CBC Radio One and CBC Enterprises, March–May 2006

Articles on Bruce Meyer's Work

  • Benjamin Ghan. Bruce Meyer: Canadian Writers Series. Guernica Editions, Hamilton
  • Juan de Dios Torralbo-Caballero. The Poetry of Bruce Meyer: The inaugural poet laureate of the city of Barrie. Granada, Comares. 2015
  • T.L. Ponick. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 282. 2003