Billeh Nickerson (born February 14, 1972) is a Canadian writer, editor, performer, producer and arts advocate.
Personal life
Nickerson was born in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...
,
[ grew up in ]Langley Langley may refer to:
People
* Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name
* Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer
* Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian performe ...
, British Columbia, lived in Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
, Ontario, and currently resides in Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...
, British Columbia.[ He earned an undergraduate degree in ]fine arts
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwo ...
from the University of Victoria
The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...
and a master's degree in fine arts from the University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
.
Writing and editing
In 2000, Nickerson published ''The Asthmatic Glassblower and other poems'' with Arsenal Pulp. It was nominated for the Publishing Triangle's Thom Gunn Award. He is also the author of the humorous essay collection ''Let Me Kiss It Better: Elixirs for the Not So Straight and Narrow'' (Arsenal Pulp, 2002) and co-editor of ''Seminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Male Poets'' with John Barton (Arsenal Pulp, 2007). He was writer in residence at Berton House in Dawson City
Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...
during July and August 2010.
In 2009, he published ''McPoems''. He followed up in 2012 with ''Impact: The Titanic Poems'', a collection of poetry inspired by the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ''Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...
''.Brett Josef Grubisic
Brett Josef Grubisic (born 1963) is a Canadian author, editor, and sessional lecturer of English at the University of British Columbia.
Education
He obtained his bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Victoria (B.A., M.A.) and com ...
, "Impact". ''Vancouver Sun
The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...
'', April 14, 2012.City of Vancouver Book Award
The City of Vancouver Book Award is a Canadian literary award, that has been presented annually by the city of Vancouver, British Columbia to one or more works of literature judged as the year's best fiction, non-fiction, poetry or drama work abo ...
.
Nickerson is a founding member of the performance troupe ''Haiku Night in Canada''.["Haiku Night in Canada: Say hello to 'Margaret Atwood and Don Cherry's love child'". '']The Province
''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's onl ...
'', September 24, 2006. He is also the past editor of the literary journals ''Event'' and ''Prism international''.
He teaches creative writing at Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) is a public degree-granting undergraduate polytechnic university in British Columbia, Canada, with campuses in Surrey, Richmond, Cloverdale, Whalley, and Langley. KPU is one of the largest institutions ...
.[
]
Publications
* ''The Asthmatic Glassblower and other poems'' (Arsenal Pulp, 2000)
* ''Let Me Kiss It Better: Elixirs for the Not So Straight and Narrow'' (Arsenal Pulp, 2002)
* ''Seminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Men's Poetry'', co-edited by John Barton (Arsenal Pulp, 2007)
* ''McPoems'' (Arsenal Pulp, 2009)
* ''Impact: The Titanic Poems'' (2012)
* ''Artificial Cherry'' (2014)
References
External links
"You Deserve A Haiku Today" ''See Magazine''
*
Billeh Nickerson – Arsenal Pulp Press
'
*
Billeh Nickerson – Writers' Union of Canada
'
*
Billeh Nickerson fonds at The ArQuives: Canada's LGBTQ2+ Archives
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickerson, Billeh
1972 births
Living people
Canadian gay writers
Writers from Vancouver
21st-century Canadian poets
Canadian LGBT poets
Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canadian anthologists
Canadian male essayists
Canadian male poets
21st-century Canadian essayists
21st-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian LGBT people
Gay poets