Dennis Beynon Lee (born August 31, 1939) is a Canadian poet, teacher, editor, and critic born in Toronto, Ontario. He is also a

children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, well known for his book of children's rhymes, ''

Alligator Pie ''Alligator Pie'', first published in 1974, is a book of children's poetry written by Dennis Lee and illustrated by Frank Newfeld. It won the Book of the Year award from the Canadian Library Association in 1975. The book had multiple adaptation ...

''.

Life

After attending high school at the

University of Toronto Schools University of Toronto Schools (UTS) is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school follows a specialized academic curriculum, and admission is determined by competitive exa ...

, Lee received bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the University of Toronto, where he coauthored articles in

Acta Victoriana ''Acta Victoriana'' is the literary journal of Victoria University, Toronto. It was founded in May 1878 and is the oldest continuous university publication in Canada; its 140th volume was published in 2016. It is published twice a year. Though or ...

with Margaret Atwood. He taught English at the University's Victoria College from 1963 until 1967, at which time he became 'resource person' for

Rochdale College Rochdale College was an experiment in student-run alternative education and co-operative living in Toronto, Canada from 1968 to 1975. It provided space for 840 residents in a co-operative living space. It was also an informal, noncredited free ...

.Dennis Lee: Biography
" Canadian Poetry Online. UToronto.ca, Web, March 18, 2011 Also in 1967, Lee co-founded

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 ...

with

Dave Godfrey Dave Godfrey (9 August 1938 – 21 June 2015) was a Canadian writer, professor, and publisher. His novel ''The New Ancestors'' won the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction in 1970.

, and served as its editorial director until 1972. From 1974 to 1979 he was a consulting editor for Macmillan of Canada.John R. Sorfleet,
Lee, Dennis Beynon
" ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Hurtig: 1988), 1197 He was a

writer in residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at Trent University in 1975, and at the University of Toronto in 1978-1979. He is married to Susan Perly, a writer and former

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

journalist.

Writing

In 1967 House of Anansi published Lee's first book of poetry, ''Kingdom of Absence'', "a sequence of 43 sonnet variations." Lee followed that up the next year with a long meditative poem, "Civil Elegies". (''Civil Elegies and Other Poems'', a revised version of that work collected with some newer poetry, won Lee the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by th ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

.) Lee began writing for children as part of his goal of "Reclaiming language and liberating imagination"; his poems are about the language and activities of the daily lives of children, expanded into the realm of imaginary play and fantasy. His best known work is the rhymed ''Alligator Pie'' (1974). Lee wrote the lyrics to the theme song of the 1980s television show ''

Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim Hen ...

'' and, with composer

Philip Balsam Philip Balsam is a Canadian songwriter, composer and author. Many of his musical works were created for television or theatre, in collaboration with a lyricist. He is best known for his work on the show ''Fraggle Rock''. Career With fellow Canadi ...

, many of the other songs for that show. A number of the songs were released on the albums ''Fraggle Rock: Music and Magic'', in 1993, and ''Jim Henson's Muppets present Fraggle Rock'', in 1984. The second album was nominated for a Grammy Award, which it won jointly with Shel Silverstein's ''Where the Sidewalk Ends''. Balsam and Lee also wrote the songs for the television special ''The Tale of the Bunny Picnic''. Lee is co-writer of the story for the film ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

''. "On the adult level," says '' The Canadian Encyclopedia'', "roots and play (including lovemaking) are further explored in Part I of ''he Gods'' (1979). Part 2, ''The Death of Harold Ladoo'' (1976), is an elegy for Lee's friend, a writer murdered in 1973.... The poem also meditates on the roles of mystical epiphanies and of artistic creation in its attempts to come to term with the problems of the contemporary world." Lee is also the co-editor of ''The University Game'' (1968, with H. Edelman), "in which he calls for freedom from inhibiting educational institutions" a la Rochdale; and the author of ''Savage Fields: An Essay in Literature and Cosmology'' (1977), which "explores the interrelationship between 'earth' and 'world'—i.e. nature and civilization, or instinct and consciousness—all with particular application to a critical analysis of works by Michael Ondaatje and Leonard Cohen."

Alasdair Gray Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark: A Life in Four Books, Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays ...

adapted a line from Lee's poem Civil Elegies into 'Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation' into a slogan Gray has become known by, inscribed on Scottish Parliament's Canongate Wall.

Recognition

In addition to his

, Lee twice won the CACL Bronze Medal for a children's book: in 1974 for ''Alligator Pie'', and in 1977 for ''Garbage Delight''. He also won the

Vicky Metcalf Award The Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People, colloquially called the Vicky, is given annually at the Writers' Trust Awards to a writer or illustrator whose body of work has been "inspirational to Canadian youth". It is a top honour for ...

, for body of work for children, in 1986, and the Mr. Christie's Book Award (''for The Ice Cream Store'') in 1991. In 1993, Lee was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1995 he received an honorary doctorate from Trent University, and won a Toronto Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 2001 Lee became Toronto's first

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...

, serving in that position until 2004. In 2009, Lee received an honorary doctorate from Victoria College in the University of Toronto.

Publications

Poetry

* ''Kingdom of Absence''. Toronto:

, 1967. * ''Civil Elegies''. Toronto: Anansi, 1968. * ''Civil Elegies and Other Poems''. Toronto: Anansi, 1972. * ''Not Abstract Harmonies But.'' Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 1974. (Chapbook) * ''The Death of Harold Ladoo''. Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 1976. (Chapbook) * ''The Gods''. Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 1978. (Chapbook) * ''The Gods''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979. * ''The Difficulty of Living on Other Planets.'' Toronto: Macmillan, 1987. Illus. Alan Daniel. * ''Riffs''. London, Ont.: Brick Books, 1993. * ''Nightwatch:'' New & Selected Poems 1968-1996. Toronto:

McClelland and Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was founded ...

, 1996. * ''Un''. Toronto: Anansi, 2003. * ''So cool.'' Dennis Lee; illustrations by Maryann Kovalski. Toronto :

Key Porter Key Porter Books was a book publishing company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1979 by Anna Porter, later well known as a writer, the company specialized in Canadian non-fiction, although it published some fiction too. It ceased op ...

, 2004. * ''The Bard of the Universe''. Kentville, NS:

Gaspereau Press Gaspereau Press is a Canadian book publishing company, based in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Established in 1997 by Andrew Steeves and Gary Dunfield, the company's philosophy emphasizes "making books that reinstate the importance of the book as a phy ...

, 2007. * ''YesNo''. Toronto: Anansi, 2007. * "Testament". Toronto: Anansi, 2012.

Children's poetry

* ''Wiggle to the Laundromat''. Toronto: New Press, 1970. Ill. Charles Pachter. * ''Nicholas Knock and Other People''. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974. Ill.

Frank Newfeld Frank Newfeld FGDC is a book designer, illustrator, art director and educator. Newfeld is arguably the greatest book designer of the 20th century in Canada. He has designed over 650 books and won more than 170 international awards. He is a former ...

. * ''

''. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974. Ill. Frank Newfeld. * ''Garbage Delight''. Toronto: Macmillan, 1977. Ill. Frank Newfeld * ''The Ordinary Bath''. Toronto: Magook, 1979. Ill. Jon McKee. * ''Jelly Belly''. Toronto: Macmillan, 1983. Ill. Juan Wijngaard. * ''Lizzy's Lion''. Toronto: Stoddart Kids, 1984. Ill. Marie-Louise Gay. * ''The Dennis Lee Big Book''. Toronto: Gage, 1985. Ill. Barbara Klunder. * ''The Ice Cream Store''. Toronto: HarperCollins, 1991. Ill. David McPhail. * ''Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie)''. New York: Random House, 1997. Selected by

Jack Prelutsky Jack Prelutsky (born September 8, 1940) is an American writer of children's poetry who has published over 50 poetry collections. He served as the first U.S. Children's Poet Laureate (now called the Young People's Poet Laureate) from 2006–08 ...

. Ill. Debbie Tilley. *''Bubblegum Delicious'' - 2000 * ''The cat and the wizard''. Dennis Lee; illustrations by Gillian Johnson. Toronto : Key Porter Books, 2001. *''Silverly/ Good Night, Good Night''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006. Ill. Nora Hilb. *''Skyscraper''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2007. Ill. Nora Hilb. *''The Kitty Ran Up the Tree''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2007. Ill. Nora Hilb. *''This Little Puppy''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2008. Ill. Nora Hilb. *''Willoughby Wallaby Woo''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006. Ill. Nora Hilb. *''Alligator Stew: Favourite Poems''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2005. Ill. Rege. *''Living and Learning with Children: Three Hundred One Activities for 3 to 8-Year Olds''. New Jersey: New Horizons Publishers. 1981. Ill. Paula Jorde Bloom. *''Ping and Pong''. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Ill. David McPhail. *''Rocking Chair''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006. Ill. Nora Hilb. *''So Cool''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2004. Ill. Maryann Kovalski. *''The Dreadful Doings of Jelly Belly''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006. Ill. Nora Hilb.

Prose

* ''Savage Fields: An Essay in Literature and Cosmology''. Toronto: Anansi, 1977. * ''Cadence, Country, Silence: Writing in Colonial Space'', in ''

Cencrastus ''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...

'' No. 4, Winter 1980-81, pp. 1 - 6, * ''Reading Adonis''. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1987. (Chapbook) * ''Body Music''. Toronto: Anansi, 1998.

Edited

* ''An Anthology of Verse''. Edited by Lee and Roberta Charlesworth. Toronto: Oxford, 1964. * ''The University Game''. Essays Edited by Howard Adelman & Dennis Lee. Toronto: Anansi, 1968. * ''T.O. Now; the Young Toronto Poets''. Toronto: Anansi, 1968. * ''The New Canadian Poets, 1970-1985''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1985. ''Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy Canadian Poetry Online.''Dennis Lee: Publications
," Canadian Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, April 19, 2011.

Recordings

* ''Dennis Lee''

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

ound recording Toronto: High Barnet, 1970. * ''Alligator Pie and Other Poems.'' ound recording New York: Caedmon, 1978.

References

External links

Dennis Lee's
entry in '' The Canadian Encyclopedia''
Toronto's First Poet Laureate: Dennis Lee 2001–2004

Dennis Lee
at Canadian Poetry Online, University of Toronto Libraries — biography and 9 poems (400: Coming Home, Coming Becomes You, Deeper, Juniper and Bone, A Plan for Preserving Birdsong, A Cautionary Verse, Alligator Pie, The Secret Place, Blue Psalm)
Dennis Lee Papers
three collections in the

Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is a library in the University of Toronto, constituting the largest repository of publicly accessible rare books and manuscripts in Canada. The library is also home to the university archives which, in addition ...

— MS Coll. 00271 includes biographical sketch {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Dennis 1939 births Living people Canadian male poets Canadian company founders Canadian children's writers Canadian television composers Governor General's Award-winning poets Harbourfront Festival Prize winners Members of the Order of Canada Musicians from Toronto Poets Laureate of Toronto Sonneteers University of Toronto alumni Chapbook writers 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Poets Laureate of places in Canada