Albert Frank Moritz (born 15 April 1947) is an American-born 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 ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

Biography

Born on 15 April 1947, in

Niles, Ohio Niles is a city in Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The population was 18,443 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Mahoning River and Mosquito Creek Lake, Mosquito Creek, Niles is a suburb in the Ma ...

, Moritz was educated at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

, receiving a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

for his dissertation on

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

. Since 1975, he has made his home in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

where he has worked variously as an advertising

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. Copywriting is aimed at selling products or services. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to incre ...

and executive,

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, and university

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

. His poetry has been honored with a 1990

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, inclusion in the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets, and numerous other awards. He currently teaches at Victoria College in the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

."New poet laureate, A.F. Moritz, calls Toronto an ‘outstanding little city-state’"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', March 6, 2019. He was the winner of the

ReLit Award The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundla ...

for poetry in 2005 for ''Night Street Repairs'', the

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 ...

in 2009 for ''The Sentinel'', and the Raymond Souster Award in 2013 for ''The New Measures''."A.F. Moritz, Gillian Savigny honoured by league". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'', June 15, 2013. He is a three-time nominee for the

Governor General's Award for English-language poetry This is a list of recipients and nominees of the Governor General's Awards award for English-language poetry. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama was divided.2000 Governor General's Awards for ''Rest on the Flight into Egypt'', at the

2008 Governor General's Awards The 2008 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit: Finalists in 14 categories (73 books) were announced October 21, winners announced November 18. The prize for writers and illustrators was $25,000 and "a specially bound copy of the winning bo ...

for ''The Sentinel'', and at the

2012 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2012 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 11, and the winners were announced on November 13. English French References External linksGovernor General's Awards {{GovernorGener ...

for ''The New Measures''."'It's definitely a way to get noticed'; Finalists for GG Literary Awards announced". ''

'', October 3, 2012. In 2019, Moritz was named as the new Poet Laureate of Toronto. In May 2019, the

Redpath Sugar Redpath Sugar Ltd. () is a Canadian sugar refining company that was established in 1854 and the first refining cane sugar in Montreal, Quebec. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario (with an additional packaging plant in Belleville, Ontario), the compa ...

company decided to withdraw their invitation for Moritz to recite a new poem he had composed at a celebration of the 60th anniversary of their opening of the

Redpath Sugar Refinery The Redpath Sugar Refinery is a sugar storage, refining and museum complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada., ''Emporis.com''. The site is located east of Downtown Toronto, the intersection of Queens Quay and Jarvis Street. Buildings The complex ...

, on Toronto's waterfront. Passages in his poem reflected on the sugar industry's dark legacy of the use of slave labour. Moritz said he was not offended by Redpath rescinding his invitation, comparing the anniversary celebration to a wedding, where those organizing the event had an unquestionable right to control the event. He is married to Theresa Moritz, with whom he has collaborated on a number of books.

Bibliography

Poetry

*''Here'' – 1975 *''Signs and Certainties'' – 1979 *''Black Orchid'' – 1981 *''Between the Root and the Flower'' – 1982 *''The Visitation'' – 1983 *''The Tradition'' – 1986 *''Song of Fear'' – 1992 *''The Ruined Cottage'' – 1993 *''Ciudad interior'' – 1993 *''Phantoms in the Ark'' – 1994 (with

Ludwig Zeller Ludwig Zeller Ocampo (1927–2019) was a Chilean poet and surreal visual artist. He was born in 1927 in Rio Loa in northern Chile to an immigrant father who worked in mining. After gaining a reputation as an innovative avant-garde artist, he dir ...

) *''Mahoning'' – 1994 *''Early Poems'' *''Conflicting Desire'' *''The End of the Age'' *''A Houseboat on the Styx'' – 1998 *''Rest on the Flight into Egypt'' – 1999 *''Night Street Repairs'' (

House of Anansi Press House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction. History Anansi ...

, 2004) *''The Sentinel'' (

, 2008) – winner of the 2009 Canadian

) *''The New Measures'' - (

, 2012) *''Sequence'' - (

, 2015) *''The Sparrow'' (

, 2018) *''As Far As You Know'' (

, 2020)

Non-fiction

*''Canada Illustrated'' *''America the Picturesque'' *''The Pocket Canada: A Guidebook'' – 1982 *''Leacock: A Biography'' – 1985 (with Theresa Moritz) *''The Oxford Literary Guide to Canada'' – 1987 (with Theresa Moritz) *''The World's Most Dangerous Woman: A New Biography of Emma Goldman'' (with Theresa Moritz) *''Stephen Leacock: His Remarkable Life'' (with Theresa Moritz)

Translations

*''Children of the Quadrilateral: Selected Poems of Benjamin Péret'' *''Testament of Man: Selected Poems of Gilberto Meza'' *''Ludwig Zeller in the Country of the Antipodes: Poems 1964–1979'' *''The Marble Head and Other Poems'', by Ludwig Zeller *''The Ghost's Tattoos'', by Ludwig Zeller *''Body of Insomnia and Other Poems'', by Ludwig Zeller *''Rio Loa: Station of Dreams'', by Ludwig Zeller

References

External links

A. F. Moritz Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moritz, A.F. 1947 births Living people Canadian male poets Canadian literary critics People from Niles, Ohio Poets laureate of Toronto American expatriate writers in Canada Canadian male non-fiction writers Academic staff of the University of Toronto 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers