Carolyn Smart (born 1952 in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) is an author, mostly of

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, who lives rurally north of

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, Canada. She was seventeen when she published her first poem in an anthology entitled Vibrations (Gage Publishing, 1969), intended for study in schools. She continued to publish while studying

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

and

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at the

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. She gave her first public reading at Hart House in 1972, and began writing full-time in 1979, with her first collection of poetry appearing in 1981. As a teenager her earliest influences were ee cummings and Leonard Cohen, and in her 20s she became fascinated by Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, W.S. Merwin, Galway Kinnell, Robert Bly and Michael Ondaatje. In later years she has been drawn to the work of a broad range of poets, both narrative and lyric, including Jane Kenyon, Marie Howe, Carolyn Forché, Selima Hill, Carol Ann Duffy, Mark Strand, Sharon Olds, Mark Doty, Lynda Hull, Patricia Smith, Elizabeth Bishop, Phil Hall, and Bronwen Wallace. Carolyn Smart's collections of poetry have been Swimmers in Oblivion (York Publishing, 1981), Power Sources (Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1982), Stoning the Moon (Oberon Press, 1986), The Way to Come Home (Brick Books, 1993), Hooked - Seven Poems (Brick Books, 2009) and her poetic study of the Barrow Gang, Careen (Brick Books, 2015). Her memoir At the End of the Day was published by Penumbra Press in 2001, and an excerpt won first prize in the 1993 CBC Literary Contest. She has taught poetry at the Banff Centre and participated online for Writers in Electronic Residence. She is the founder of the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers, and since 1989 has been Professor of Creative Writing at Queen's University. Both Careen and Hooked have become theatrical productions, the former in Canada and the U.K., and Hooked was nominated for three Dora Mavor Moore awards after a full length production at Theatre Passe Muraille. It has toured across Canada, as well as multiple productions in the U.K., including the Edinburgh And RADA Festivals.

Bibliography

Books * Careen. London, Ontario: Brick Books, Sept. 2015 * Hooked. London, Ontario: Brick Books, 2009 * The Way To Come Home. London, Ontario: Brick Books, 1992, 1997 & 2003. * Stoning the Moon. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1986. * Power Sources. Fredericton, N.B.: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1982. * Swimmers in Oblivion. Toronto: York Publishing, 1981. * At the End of the Day, A Memoir. Manotick: Penumbra Press, 2001. Poems and Essays in Anthologies * Poetry by Canadian Women. Ed. Rosemary Sullivan. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1989. * Anything Is Possible: A Selection of Eleven Women Poets. Ed. Mary di Michele. Oakville, Ontario: Mosaic Press, 1984. * Best Canadian Essays. Ed. Douglas Fetherling. Toronto: Fifth House, 1989. * New Life in Dark Seas. Ed. Stan Dragland. Toronto: Brick Books, 2000. * The Dominion of Love. Ed. Tom Wayman. Vancouver: Harbour Publishing, 2001. * How the Light Gets In. Ed. John Ennis. Waterford, Ireland: School of Humanities Publications, 2009. * Pith and Wry. Ed. Susan McMaster. Sudbury: Scrivener Press, 2010.

References

External links

Queen's English Department - Faculty and Staff Profile

University of Toronto's Poets List

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Carolyn 20th-century English poets 1952 births Living people Canadian women poets 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers