Robert Dickson (July 23, 1944 – March 19, 2007)"Franco-Ontarian poet Robert Dickson dies

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, March 20, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2017. 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 o ...

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 writte ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

. Born and raised in

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, he spent much of his life and career living in Sudbury."Robert Dickson, Writer and Teacher 1944-2007". '' The Globe and Mail'', April 12, 2007. He studied French language and literature at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and

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, receiving his doctorate in 1972, and spent his academic career as a professor for the Department of French Studies and Translation at

Laurentian University Laurentian University (french: Université Laurentienne), officially the Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Laurentian offers a variety ...

in Sudbury. He won 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 the ...

for French language poetry in 2002, for his book ''Humains paysages en temps de paix relative'' (). His first poetry collection, ''Une bonne trentaine'' () was published by

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in 1975, the only French language work ever published by that company. A poem from that collection, "Au nord de notre vie", was set to music by the folk rock group CANO, and came to be adopted as an anthem of

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2016, the Government of O ...

culture. His later poetry collections, all published by

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, included ''Or(é)alité'' (1978, ), ''Abris nocturnes'' (1986, ), ''Grand ciel bleu par ici'' (1997, ) and ''Libertés provisoires'' (2005, ). A compilation of his poetry, translated into English by Jo-Anne Elder, was published by Guernica Editions under the title ''Human Presences and Possible Futures'' (2013, ). He also translated both French and English literary works, including English translations of works by Jean-Marc Dalpé and French translations of works by

Tomson Highway Tomson Highway (born 6 December 1951) is an Indigenous Canadian playwright, novelist, and children's author. He is best known for his plays '' The Rez Sisters'' and '' Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'', both of which won the Dora Mavor Mo ...

and Lola Lemire Tostevin. Over the course of his career, he was also awarded the Prix du CCRCF from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

's Centre for Research on French Canadian Culture and the Prix Nouvel-Ontario, and was named to the Ordre de la Pléiade in 2005. Dickson died at his home in Sudbury on March 19, 2007 from brain cancer.

Quotation

"Si je peux poser quelques pierre blanches
pour baliser le sentier à inventer,
je ne serais que très content,
croyant que j'ai ainsi fait quelque chose
de valable avec ma vie." — Robert Dickson "Robert Dickson n'est plus"

Radio-Canada 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. ...
, March 19, 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Robert 1944 births 2007 deaths Canadian songwriters Canadian poets in French Franco-Ontarian people Governor General's Award-winning poets Laurentian University faculty Writers from Greater Sudbury Deaths from brain cancer in Canada People from Wellington County, Ontario 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian translators 21st-century Canadian translators 21st-century Canadian male writers Literary translators Canadian male non-fiction writers