Keywords Born in 1935 Poets

A prolific writer, whose poetry, both lyric and extended, seeks to capture flux in the rhythms of its open structures, and whose fiction seeks to subvert realist conventions through self-conscious textual invention, Bowering has published over 40 books. A witty sense of play animates his vision in them all. His poetry includes Rocky Mountain Foot (1969) and The Gangs of Kosmos (1969), for which he won his first Gov Gen's Award; The Catch (1976), Selected Poems: Particular Accidents (1980), West Window (1982), Kerrisdale Elegies (1984), Delayed Mercy and Other Poems (1987) and Urban Snow (1991).

Of his fiction, A Short Sad Book (1977), Burning Water (1980), a novel about George VANCOUVER's voyages of discovery, for which he won his second Gov Gen's Award, and Caprice (1987) stand out. His most recent publications are another "historical metafiction" concerning The McLean Gang, the novel Shoot! (1994), and his first collection of short fiction in 10 years, The Rain Barrel (1994). He has also published 5 collections of critical essays: A Way with Words (1982), The Mask in Place (1983), Craft Slices (1985), Errata (1988), and Imaginary Hand (1988).

The best introduction to his work is Robin Blaser's essay in Particular Accidents, a volume which, because it casts so widely over his previous work, grants readers a privileged overview of his development. Burning Water remains his finest novel, not least for the way it insists on the emotional integrity of its characters even as it simultaneously insists that we read them as fictional constructs. Similarly, Kerrisdale Elegies, a sharp and witty but finally profoundly moving homage and critique of Rilke's Duino Elegies, stands as Bowering's finest extended poem. It is one of the long poems considered in Smaro Kamboureli, On the Edge of Genre (1991).

Bowering, George
Bowering's over 40 books are marked with a witty sense of play (photo by Bliss Swift/courtesy Penguin Books Canada Ltd).

Author DOUGLAS BARBOUR

Links to Other Sites
The Parliamentary Poet Laureate
The website for the Parliamentary Poet Laureate. This site is quite good, you'll see, because it celebrates great Canadian poetry. Features profiles of Canada's Poet Laureates, information about the nomination process, and "Poems of the Week." Check out the site to find even more to explore.

George Bowering
A biography of George Bowering, prolific poet, novelist, editor, professor and radio personality. Includes related archival information. From Library and Archives Canada.