Barbara Kathleen Nickel (born June 22, 1966, in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

) is a 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 ...

Life

She was raised in

Rosthern, Saskatchewan Rosthern is a town at the juncture of Highway 11 and Highway 312 in central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is roughly halfway between the cities of Prince Albert and Saskatoon. History Mennonite settlers, led by Gerhard Ens, began arriving in ...

. She graduated from

Goshen College Goshen College is a Private college, private Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, a ...

and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

with an M.F.A. She was the poetry editor of ''Prism International''. She moved to

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

, then back in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. She was on a panel at the 2005

Association of Writers & Writing Programs The Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) is a nonprofit literary organization that provides support, advocacy, resources, and community to nearly 50,000 writers, 500 college and university creative writing programs, and 125 writers' c ...

conference.

Awards

* 1995 The Malahat Review Long Poem Prize * 1996 National Magazine Awards, honourable mention * 1996 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young Adults, finalist * 1997 Mr. Christie's Book Award, finalist * 1998 B.C. Red Cedar Awards, finalist * 1998

Pat Lowther Award The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual Canadian literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. The award was established in 1980 to honour poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by ...

Publications

"Onychomychosis", ''The Walrus''
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Young adult fiction

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Anthologies

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Criticism

Review

In ''Domain'', her second collection, B.C. poet and fiction writer Barbara Nickel engages explicitly with the concept of home – specifically, the house she grew up in and the memories it evokes. That focus doesn't mean the poems are narrow in scope. Nickel subtly explores the broader associations of each room (for instance, the section "Master Bedroom" comments on marriage) and searchingly paces the halls of a family history that's filled with heartache (her Russian ancestors' village is described in idyllic terms, until "Revolution burned / that inside out").

References

1966 births Living people 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian women poets Goshen College alumni University of British Columbia alumni People from Rosthern, Saskatchewan 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian Mennonites Mennonite poets Poets from Saskatchewan {{Canada-poet-stub