Dennis Beynon Lee (born August 31, 1939) is a
Canadian poet, teacher, editor, and critic born in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
.
[ He is also a children's writer, well known for his book of children's rhymes, '' Alligator Pie''.
]
Life
After attending high school at the University of Toronto Schools
University of Toronto Schools (UTS) is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school follows a specialized academic curriculum, and admission is determined by a written exam ...
, Lee received bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
, where he coauthored articles in Acta Victoriana with 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 ...
. He taught English at the University's Victoria College from 1963 until 1967, at which time he became 'resource person' for Rochdale College.[Dennis Lee: Biography]
" Canadian Poetry Online. UToronto.ca, Web, March 18, 2011
Also in 1967, Lee co-founded House of Anansi Press with Dave Godfrey, and served as its editorial director until 1972. From 1974 to 1979 he was a consulting editor for Macmillan of Canada.[John R. Sorfleet,]
Lee, Dennis Beynon
" ''Canadian Encyclopedia'' (Hurtig: 1988), 1197
He was a writer in residence at Trent University
Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Founded in 1964, the university is known for its Oxbridge college system, sma ...
in 1975, and at the University of Toronto in 1978-1979.
He is married to Susan Perly, a writer and former Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...
journalist.
Writing
In 1967 House of Anansi published Lee's first book of poetry, ''Kingdom of Absence'', "a sequence of 43 sonnet
A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
variations." Lee followed that up the next year with a long meditative poem, "Civil Elegies". (''Civil Elegies and Other Poems'', a revised version of that work collected with some newer poetry, won Lee 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 ...
in 1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
.) [
Lee began writing for children as part of his goal of "Reclaiming language and liberating imagination"; his poems are about the language and activities of the daily lives of children, expanded into the realm of imaginary play and fantasy.][ His best known work is the rhymed ''Alligator Pie'' (1974).
Lee wrote the lyrics to the theme song of the 1980s television show '']Fraggle Rock
''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy television comedy, comedy puppet television series about interconnected so ...
'' and, with composer Philip Balsam, many of the other songs for that show. A number of the songs were released on the albums ''Fraggle Rock: Music and Magic'', in 1993, and ''Jim Henson's Muppets present Fraggle Rock'', in 1984. The second album was nominated for a Grammy Award, which it won jointly with Shel Silverstein's ''Where the Sidewalk Ends''. Balsam and Lee also wrote the songs for the television special '' The Tale of the Bunny Picnic''. Lee is co-writer of the story for the film ''Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...
''.
"On the adult level," says ''The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...
'', "roots and play (including lovemaking) are further explored in Part I of ''The Gods'' (1979). Part 2, ''The Death of Harold Ladoo'' (1976), is an elegy for Lee's friend, a writer murdered in 1973.... The poem also meditates on the roles of mystical epiphanies and of artistic creation in its attempts to come to term with the problems of the contemporary world."[
Lee is also the co-editor of ''The University Game'' (1968, with H. Edelman), "in which he calls for freedom from inhibiting educational institutions" a la Rochdale; and the author of ''Savage Fields: An Essay in Literature and Cosmology'' (1977), which "explores the interrelationship between 'earth' and 'world'—i.e. nature and civilization, or instinct and consciousness—all with particular application to a critical analysis of works by ]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 Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
."
Alasdair Gray adapted a line from Lee's poem Civil Elegies into 'Work as if you live in the early days of a better nation' into a slogan Gray has become known by, inscribed on Scottish Parliament's Canongate Wall.
Recognition
In addition to his 1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
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 ...
, Lee twice won the CACL Bronze Medal for a children's book: in 1974 for ''Alligator Pie'', and in 1977 for ''Garbage Delight''. He also won the Vicky Metcalf Award, for body of work for children, in 1986, and the Mr. Christie's Book Award (''for The Ice Cream Store'') in 1991.
In 1993, Lee was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...
. In 1995 he received an honorary doctorate from Trent University, and won a Toronto Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In 2001 Lee became Toronto's first Poet Laureate, serving in that position until 2004.
In 2009, Lee received an honorary doctorate from Victoria College in the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
.
Publications
Poetry
* ''Kingdom of Absence''. Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 1967.
* ''Civil Elegies''. Toronto: Anansi, 1968.
* ''Civil Elegies and Other Poems''. Toronto: Anansi, 1972.
* ''Not Abstract Harmonies But.'' Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 1974. (Chapbook)
* ''The Death of Harold Ladoo''. Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 1976. (Chapbook)
* ''The Gods''. Vancouver: Kanchenjunga Press, 1978. (Chapbook)
* ''The Gods''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979.
* ''The Difficulty of Living on Other Planets.'' Toronto: Macmillan, 1987. Illus. Alan Daniel.
* ''Riffs''. London, Ont.: Brick Books, 1993.
* ''Nightwatch:'' New & Selected Poems 1968-1996. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1996.
* ''Un''. Toronto: Anansi, 2003.
* ''So cool.'' Dennis Lee; illustrations by Maryann Kovalski. Toronto : Key Porter, 2004.
* ''The Bard of the Universe''. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 2007.
* ''YesNo''. Toronto: Anansi, 2007.
* ''Testament''. Toronto: Anansi, 2012.
Children's poetry
* ''Wiggle to the Laundromat''. Toronto: New Press, 1970. Ill. Charles Pachter.
* ''Nicholas Knock and Other People''. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974. Ill. Frank Newfeld.
* '' Alligator Pie''. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1974. Ill. Frank Newfeld.
* ''Garbage Delight''. Toronto: Macmillan, 1977. Ill. Frank Newfeld
* ''The Ordinary Bath''. Toronto: Magook, 1979. Ill. Jon McKee.
* ''Jelly Belly''. Toronto: Macmillan, 1983. Ill. Juan Wijngaard.
* ''Lizzy's Lion''. Toronto: Stoddart Kids, 1984. Ill. Marie-Louise Gay.
* ''The Dennis Lee Big Book''. Toronto: Gage, 1985. Ill. Barbara Klunder.
* ''The Ice Cream Store''. Toronto: HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...
, 1991. Ill. David McPhail.
* ''Dinosaur Dinner (with a Slice of Alligator Pie)''. New York: Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...
, 1997. Selected by Jack Prelutsky. Ill. Debbie Tilley.
*''Bubblegum Delicious'' - 2000
* ''The cat and the wizard''. Dennis Lee; illustrations by Gillian Johnson. Toronto : Key Porter Books, 2001.
*''Silverly/ Good Night, Good Night''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006. Ill. Nora Hilb.
*''Skyscraper''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2007. Ill. Nora Hilb.
*''The Kitty Ran Up the Tree''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2007. Ill. Nora Hilb.
*''This Little Puppy''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2008. Ill. Nora Hilb.
*''Willoughby Wallaby Woo''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006. Ill. Nora Hilb.
*''Alligator Stew: Favourite Poems''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2005. Ill. Rege.
*''Living and Learning with Children: Three Hundred One Activities for 3 to 8-Year Olds''. New Jersey: New Horizons Publishers. 1981. Ill. Paula Jorde Bloom.
*''Ping and Pong''. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Ill. David McPhail.
*''Rocking Chair''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006. Ill. Nora Hilb.
*''So Cool''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2004. Ill. Maryann Kovalski.
*''The Dreadful Doings of Jelly Belly''. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2006. Ill. Nora Hilb.
*''Zoomberry''. New York: HarperCollins, 2016. Ill. Dušan Petričić
Dušan Petričić ( sr-cyr, Душан Петричић; born 10 May 1946) is a Serbian illustrator and Caricature, caricaturist. He has illustrated numerous children's books and his caricatures have appeared in various newspapers and magazines f ...
.
Prose
* ''Savage Fields: An Essay in Literature and Cosmology''. Toronto: Anansi, 1977.
* ''Cadence, Country, Silence: Writing in Colonial Space'', in '' Cencrastus'' No. 4, Winter 1980-81, pp. 1 - 6,
* ''Reading Adonis''. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1987. (Chapbook)
* ''Body Music''. Toronto: Anansi, 1998.
Edited
* ''An Anthology of Verse''. Edited by Lee and Roberta Charlesworth. Toronto: Oxford, 1964.
* ''The University Game''. Essays Edited by Howard Adelman & Dennis Lee. Toronto: Anansi, 1968.
* ''T.O. Now; the Young Toronto Poets''. Toronto: Anansi, 1968.
* ''The New Canadian Poets, 1970-1985''. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1985.
''Except where noted, bibliographic information courtesy Canadian Poetry Online.''[Dennis Lee: Publications]
," Canadian Poetry Online, UToronto.ca, Web, April 19, 2011.
Recordings
* ''Dennis Lee'' elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
ound recording Toronto: High Barnet, 1970.
* ''Alligator Pie and Other Poems.'' ound recording New York: Caedmon, 1978.
References
External links
Dennis Lee's
entry in ''The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...
''
Toronto's First Poet Laureate: Dennis Lee 2001–2004
Dennis Lee
at Canadian Poetry Online, University of Toronto Libraries
The University of Toronto Libraries system is the largest academic library in Canada and is ranked third among peer institutions in North America, behind only Harvard and Yale. The system consists of 40 libraries located on University of Toronto's ...
— biography and 9 poems (400: Coming Home, Coming Becomes You, Deeper, Juniper and Bone, A Plan for Preserving Birdsong, A Cautionary Verse, Alligator Pie, The Secret Place, Blue Psalm)
Dennis Lee Papers
three collections in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library — MS Coll. 00271 includes biographical sketch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Dennis
1939 births
Living people
Canadian male poets
Canadian company founders
Canadian children's writers
Canadian children's poets
Canadian television composers
Governor General's Award–winning poets
Harbourfront Festival Prize winners
Members of the Order of Canada
Musicians from Toronto
Poets laureate of Toronto
Sonneteers
University of Toronto alumni
Chapbook writers
20th-century Canadian poets
21st-century Canadian poets
20th-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian male writers