Dennis Cooley
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Dennis Cooley (born 1944) is a
Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...
writer of poetry and criticism, a retired university professor, and a vital figure in the evolution of the prairie long poem. He was raised on a farm near the small city of
Estevan, Saskatchewan Estevan is the eleventh-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. History T ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and currently resides in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
,
Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...
. Cooley's self-proclaimed influences in writing are
William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...
,
H.D. Hilda Doolittle (September 10, 1886 – September 27, 1961) was an American modernist poet, novelist, and memoirist who wrote under the name H.D. throughout her life. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded th ...
, Robert Duncan,
Charles Olson Charles John Olson (27 December 1910 – 10 January 1970) was a second generation modernist United States poetry, American poet who was a link between earlier Literary modernism, modernist figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams an ...
, E.E. Cummings,
Eli Mandel Eli Mandel (December 3, 1922 – September 3, 1992) was a Canadian poet, editor of many Canadian anthologies, and literary academic. Biography Eli Mandel died in relative obscurity. A series of strokes had left him unable to write and, as a ...
, Andrew Suknaski,
Daphne Marlatt Daphne Marlatt, CM ( Buckle, July 11, 1942), is a Canadian poet and novelist who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. At a young age, her family moved to Malaysia and at age nine, they moved to British Columbia, where she later attended the Un ...
,
bpNichol Barrie Phillip Nichol (30 September 1944 – 25 September 1988), known as bpNichol, was a Canadian poet, writer, sound poet, editor, creative writing teacher at York University in Toronto and grOnk/Ganglia Press publisher. His body of work ...
,
Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...
, and
Robert Kroetsch Robert Paul Kroetsch (June 26, 1927 – June 21, 2011)
.


Early life

As a student, Cooley held a variety of different labouring jobs during the summers. First attending secondary schooling at the
University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...
, Cooley obtained with added Distinction his Bachelor of Education Degree in 1966, a High Honours
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
Degree in 1967 and afterwards upgraded to his Masters of Arts Degree on
Stephen Crane Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...
's imagery and symbolism in 1968. Cooley later moved to
New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
to attend the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
. It was there that Cooley prepared the research for his doctorate on the San Francisco-born American poet, Robert Duncan. He received the
Ph. D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in 1971.


Career

From 1972 to 1973, Cooley was employed within the Blakeney Government in Saskatchewan as an executive assistant. Apart from this, most of Cooley's working life has been teaching English. He has worked at St. John's College since 1976 as the Organizer of Literary Conferences within the University of Manitoba and taught Early Modern and Contemporary poetry, specializing in Robert Duncan,
Dorothy Livesay Dorothy Kathleen May Livesay, (October 12, 1909 – December 29, 1996) was a Canadian poet who twice won the Governor General's Award in the 1940s, and was "senior woman writer in Canada" during the 1970s and 1980s.Mathews, R.D.. "Dorothy L ...
,
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...
, Robert Kroetsch,
Eli Mandel Eli Mandel (December 3, 1922 – September 3, 1992) was a Canadian poet, editor of many Canadian anthologies, and literary academic. Biography Eli Mandel died in relative obscurity. A series of strokes had left him unable to write and, as a ...
, Prairie Literature, the Long poem in the Twentieth Century, Canadian Writers in Self-construction, Fundamentals of Literary Theory, American Literature, Creative Writing, Poetry & Media 1994–1995, Narratology & Postcolonialism. He retired from in 2011. He has since helped start create the Manitoba Writers’ Guild, and is currently President. The Guild, founded in 1981 in Aubigny, Manitoba as a support group for Manitoba writers, offers workshops, conducts local reading groups and a peer support network for enhancing and encouraging other writers of all skill levels. Cooley is also an editor, and from 1975 to 1976 was the Assistant Editor on the Journal of Canadian Fiction, the Poetry Editor of Arts Manitoba from 1978 to 1979 and 1982–1983, the Contributing Editor to
Border Crossings Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
from 1989 to 1993, as well as the Editor at the Pachyderm Press from 1993 onward. He also served as the Workshop Leader at the Sage Hill Writing Experience in 1992, 1998, 1999, and 2000. Cooley is a founding editor of the
Turnstone Press Turnstone Press is a Canadian literary publisher founded in 1976 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the oldest in Manitoba and among the most respected independent publishers in Canada. Turnstone was founded in 1976 by academics David Arnason, John Beaver, D ...
in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which was created in 1976 in a local Winnipeg pub. Turnstone promotes authors who are either landed immigrants or Canadian citizens, with fifty percent featuring local Manitoba content and Manitoban writers.


Writing

Cooley specializes in different genres of poetry; such as literary travel,
literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...
, and the
long poem The long poem is a literary genre including all poetry of considerable length. Though the definition of a long poem is vague and broad, the genre includes some of the most important poetry ever written. With more than 220,000 (100,000 shloka or ...
. He shows special interest in Canadian Literature, American Writing, modern and postmodern writing, the languages of orality and print, poetry and politics, and literary theory. To date, Cooley has published a dozen volumes of poetry, and over a hundred various articles, columns, reviews, and interviews. Cooley has travelled abroad to share his talent by giving workshops, lectures and readings to places such as
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
(Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Chernivtsi, and Moscow) in May 1991, to the World Poetry Conference in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
in May 1995 and again in May 2001,
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in August 2002,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
in April 1999, and
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
in December 1998. To benefit those who don't read his native language of English, some of his work has been translated into Portuguese, German, Chinese and Ukrainian. Cooley gave his time to the
University of Augsburg The University of Augsburg () is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 8 Faculties. The University of Augsburg is a relatively young campus university with a ...
in the summer of 1996 by being the Canadian Studies guest professor. Cooley is currently keeping busy by working on personal travel journals, poetry books, and a plethora of essays.


Recognition

Cooley is the recipient of twelve Manitoba Book Awards, and the Lifetime Achievement Award. He has also won or been nominated for the following: *(1967-1968) University of Saskatchewan Teaching Fellowship. *(1968-1971) Canada Council award for graduate study. *(1968-1971) University of Rochester Tuition Scholarships. *(1975) University of Manitoba Research Grant to work on the Duncan papers in the Bancroft Library at Berkeley. *(1979) Olive Beatrice Stanton award for excellence in teaching. * (1981-1982) SSHRC Leave Fellowship. *(1987) Manitoba Arts Council Award to write a screen play based on Bloody Jack. *(1987) University of Manitoba outreach award. *(1988) Perishable Light nominated for McNally Robinson Book Award. *(1989) Western Magazine Award for arts commentary. *(1990) Visiting Professor in Canadian Studies, University of Trier, West Germany— May–July. *(1990) Featured reader at Moorhead State University in the Thomas McGrath reading series. *(May 5, 1995) City of Estevan official Dennis Cooley day. *(1996) Guest Professor in Canadian Studies at Universität Augsburg. *(2000) ''Irene'' nominated for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award. *(2000) Named "Favourite Poet" in Write: Readers' Choice poll. *(2001) ''Irene'' nominated for McNaly Robinson book of the Year Award. *(2012) Departmental Distinguished Lecturer of the Year Award from the University of Windsor, Ontario for his Lecture ''A Lover's Question: Staging Romance in Kroetsch's The Sad Phoenician.''


Bibliography

*Cooley, D. (1980) ''Leaving.'' Lyrical poems about friends and family, Turnstone Press. *Cooley, D. (1983) ''Fielding.'' Poem about Cooley's father, including his death.
Thistledown Press Thistledown Press is an independent literary publisher based 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 ...
. . *Cooley, D. (1984) ''Bloody Jack.'' Poem that plays off the narrative of Jack Krafchenko, a famous outlaw from early twentieth-century Manitoba. Turnstone Press. ; 1984 *Cooley, D. (1987) ''Soul Searching.'' Poems on the mind/body binary. Red Deer College Press. ; 1987. *Cooley, D. (1987) ''The Vernacular Muse.'' Critical essays on the eye and the ear in Canadian literature. Turnstone Press. ; 1987. *Cooley, D. (1988) ''Dedications.'' Poems dedicated to friends and other writers. Thistledown Press. *Cooley, D. (1988) ''Perishable Light.'' Poems from memory, dream, fantasy, set in the Prairies. Coteau Books. *Cooley, D. (1992) ''Eli Mandel and His Works.'' ECW Press. *Cooley, D. (1992) ''This Only Home.'' Poems on astronauts, astronomers and mariners. Turnstone Press. *Cooley, D. (1992) ''Burglar of Blood.'' Dracula poems. Pachyderm Press. *Cooley, D. (1996) ''Sunfall.'' Selected and new poems. House of Anansi Press. *Cooley, D. (2000) ''Irene'' Poetry about the death of Cooley's mother. Turnstone Press. *Cooley, D. (2002) ''Bloody Jack. 2nd. ed.'' University of Alberta. *Cooley, D. (2003) ''Seeing Red'' Dracula Poems. Turnstone Press. *Cooley, D. (2004) ''Country Music'' New Poems. Kalamalka. *Cooley, D. (2006) ''The Bentleys'' Poems of a prairie couple. University of Alberta. *Cooley, D. (2007) ''By Word of Mouth'' Canadian identity poems. Wilfrid Laurier. *Cooley, D. (2008) ''Correction Line'' Reconstructing Memory poems. Thistledown Press. *Cooley, D. ''The Stones'' Prairie Relation poems. Turnstone Press.


Books edited

*Cooley, D (Ed.) (1981) ''In the Name of Narid: New Poems.'' Erin, ON: Porcupine's Quill. *Cooley, D (Ed.) (1981) ''Draft: An Anthology of Prairie Poetry.'' Toronto, ON: Turnstone Press. *Cooley, D (Ed.) (1980) ''Replacing.'' Toronto, ON: ECW. *Cooley, D (Ed.) (1992) ''Inscriptions: Prairie Poetry.'' Winnipeg, MB: Turnstone Press.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Dennis 1944 births Living people People from Estevan 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male poets 21st-century Canadian poets Academic staff of the University of Manitoba University of Saskatchewan alumni Writers from Winnipeg 21st-century Canadian male writers Poets from Manitoba Poets from Saskatchewan