Fred Cogswell CM (November 8, 1917 – June 20, 2004) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

Life and career

Born in East Centreville, New Brunswick he served overseas in the

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during the

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. A teacher at the age of sixteen, Cogswell gained a BA(Hons) and MA at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

and received a PhD from

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. He later became a

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at the University of New Brunswick, a position he held from 1952 to 1983. In 1958, Cogswell, along with friend and fellow poet Warren Kinthompson as well as a group of students and faculty from the University of New Brunswick founded ''Fiddlehead Poetry Books'', now one of Canada's important small press publishers operating as ''

Goose Lane Editions Goose Lane Editions is a Canadian book publishing company founded in 1954 in Fredericton, New Brunswick as Fiddlehead Poetry Books by Fred Cogswell and a group of students and faculty from the University of New Brunswick associated with ''The F ...

''. Fred Cogswell was made a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 1981. Fred Cogswell was a prolific poet, translator, editor and scholar and was dubbed "A Friend of Poets - Amis des Poètes" for his lifelong commitment to poetry and those who write it. He was the author of 33 books of his own poetry, 9 books of poetry translation and publisher of 307 books of poetry. In addition, Fred Cogswell wrote and published many learned articles and reviews. His poetry has been published in magazines, journals, anthologies and textbooks and has been translated into several languages including Chinese, Romanian, Spanish, and French. Dr. Cogswell was a Life Member of the League of Canadian Poets, the Association of Canadian Publishers, and the Writers' Federation of New Brunswick. The Fred Cogswell Award For Excellence In Poetry was founded in 2014 and is an annual event open to Canadian poets.

Selected bibliography

*''The Stunted Strong'', 1954, Fiddlehead Poetry Books (republished 2004 by Goose Lane Editions, ) *''The House Without a Door'', 1959, Ryerson Press *''Lost Dimension'', 1960, Outposts Publications, Dulwich Village, UK *''Immortal Plowman'', 1969, Fiddlehead Poetry Books *''One Hundred Poems of Modern Quebec'', 1970, Fiddlehead Poetry Books (ed. & trans.) *''The House Without a Door'', 1973, Fiddlehead Poetry Books *''The Best Notes Merge'', 1988, Borealis Press, *''Black and White Tapestry'', 1989, Borealis Press, *''Watching An Eagle'', 1991, Borealis Press, *''In Praise of Old Music'', 1992, Borealis Press, *''When the Right Light Shines'', 1992, Borealis Press, *''In My Own Growing'', 1993, Borealis Press, *''As I See It'', 1994, Borealis Press, *''The Trouble With Light'', 1996, Borealis Press, *''Folds'', 1997, Borealis Press, *''A Double Question'', 1999, Borealis Press, *''With Vision Added'', 2000, Borealis Press, *''The Vision of Fred: Conversations with Fred Cogswell on the Nature and Function of Poetry'' (Kathleen Forsythe, ed.), 2004, Borealis Press,

Anthologies

*''Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada'', ed. Anne Compton, Laurence Hutchman, Ross Leckie and Robin McGrath (Goose Lane Editions, 2002)

Awards

*Bliss Carman Award for Poetry, 1945, 1947. *Gold Medal, Philippines Republic, for Distinguished Poet, Magazine Editor, 1957. *Member of the Order of Canada, 1981. *L.L.D., St. Francis Xavier University, 1983. *D.C.L., King's College, 1985. *L.L.D., Mount Allison University, 1988. *Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in Literary Arts, New Brunswick Government, 1995. *Medal for 125th Anniversary of Canada, 1997.

References

* Williamson, Margie. ''Four Maritime Poets: a survey of the works of Alden Nowlan, Fred Cogswell, Raymond Fraser and Al Pittman, as they reflect the spirit and culture of the Maritime people''. Thesis (M.A.), Dalhousie University, 1973 icroform

External links

Fred Cogswell's
entry in

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