Susan McCaslin


Susan Elizabeth McCaslin is a Canadian poet and writer.

Biography

McCaslin lives in Fort Langley, British Columbia. She received an M.A. in English at Simon Fraser University, 1973; and a Ph.D. in English at University of British Columbia, 1984.
She taught English and Creative Writing at Douglas College in British Columbia from 1984 to 2007. She is a retired Faculty Emerita who has authored fourteen volumes of poetry. Her most recent volume is Painter, Poet, Mountain: After Cézanne. Her previous volume, Demeter Goes Skydiving, was shortlisted for the BC Book Prize and the winner of the Alberta [Book Publishing Award] for 2012. She is an essayist, editor of poetry anthologies, children's author, memoirist, and creative non-fiction writer.

Literary awards (selected)

  • The Burnaby Writers' Society Annual Poetry Contest, Oct. 1995, first-place winner.
  • Mother Tongue Press's Annual Chapbook Competition, 1997, for Letters to William Blake.
  • Burnaby Writers' Society Poetry Competition, 2005, first-place winner.
  • The second annual poetry contest sponsored by Presence: an International Journal of Spiritual Direction, grand prize poetry winner, 2006.
  • First place winner in the 18th Annual Literary Writes Poetry Competition of the Federation of BC Writers, 2006.
  • Finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Award for Demeter Goes Skydiving.
  • Alberta Book Publishing Award for Demeter Goes Skydiving, 2012.

    Works

Poetry

  • Conversing with Paradise. Vancouver, B.C.: Golden Eagle Press, 1986.
  • Locutions. Victoria, B.C.: Ekstasis Editions, 1995.
  • Light Housekeeping. Victoria, B.C.: Ekstasis Editions, 1997.
  • Veil/Unveil. Toronto: The Saint Thomas Poetry Series, 1997.
  • Into the Open. Port Moody, B.C.: Golden Eagle Press, 1999.
  • Flying Wounded. Gainesville, Florida: The University Press of Florida, 2000.
  • The Altering Eye. Ottawa, Ontario: Borealis Press, 2000.
  • Common Longing: The Teresa Poems and A Canticle for Mary and Martha. New York: Mellen Poetry Press, 2001.
  • At the Mercy Seat. Vancouver, B.C.: Ronsdale Press, 2003.
  • A Plot of Light. Lantzville, B.C.: Oolichan Books, 2004.
  • Lifting the Stone. Hamilton, Ontario: Seraphim Editions, Oct. 2007.
  • Demeter Goes Skydiving. University of Alberta Press, 2011.
  • The Disarmed Heart. Toronto, Ontario: The St. Thomas Poetry Series, 2014.
  • Painter, Poet, Mountain: After Cézanne. Toronto, Ontario: Quattro Books, 2016.
  • Into the Open: Poems New and Selected. Toronto, Ontario: Inanna Publications, 2017.
  • Heart Work. Victoria, B.C.: Ekstasis Editions, 2020.
  • Consider. Thornhill, Ontario: Aeolus House, 2023.
  • Field Play. Victoria, B.C.: Ekstasis Editions, 2024.

    Non-fiction

  • Arousing the Spirit: Provocative Writings. Kelowna, British Columbia: Copperhouse, an imprint of Wood Lake Books, 2011.

    Chapbooks (selected)

  • Letters to William Blake. Salt Spring Island: Mother Tongue Press, 1997. First-place winner of the Mother Tongue Chapbook competition for 1997, judged by P.K. Page.
  • Oracular Heart. The Hawthorne Poetry Series. Victoria, B.C.: Reference West, 1999.
  • Persephone Tours the Underground. North Vancouver, B.C.: The Alfred Gustav Press, 2009.
  • effortful / effortless: after Cézanne. North Vancouver, B.C.: The Alfred Gustav Press, 2015.
  • Cosmic Egg. North Vancouver, B.C.: The Alfred Gustav Poetry Press, 2021.
  • Sentient Stones. Salt Spring Island, B.C.: Raven Chapbooks, 2023.

    Children's books

  • Thinking About God. Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty-Third Publications, 1994.

    Editor of poetry anthologies

  • A Matter of Spirit: Recovery of the Sacred in Contemporary Canadian Poetry. Victoria, B.C.: Ekstasis Editions, 1998.
  • Poetry and Spiritual Practice: Selections from Contemporary Canadian Poets. Toronto: The St. Thomas Poetry Series, 2002.