Ruth Elizabeth Borson, who writes under the name Roo Borson (born January 20, 1952 in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

) is a Canadian poet who lives 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 ...

. After undergraduate studies at

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...

and

Goddard College Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and grad ...

, she received an MFA 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 ...

. She has received many awards for her work, including the

Governor General's Literary 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 ...

, 2004, and the

Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...

, 2005 for Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida. She currently lives in Toronto with poet Kim Maltman, and with Kim Maltman and Andy Patton is a member of the

collaborative Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Mo ...

performance poetry ensemble Pain Not Bread.

Works

*''Landfall'' (1977), *''Rain'' (1980), *''In the Smoky Light of the Fields'' (1980), *''A Sad Device'' (1981), *''The Whole Night, Coming Home'' (1984), (nominated for a

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 ...

) *''The Transparence of November / Snow'' (1985), (with Kim Maltman) *''Intent, or, The Weight of the World'' (1989), *''Night Walk'' (1994), (nominated for a

) *''Water Memory'' (1996), *''Introduction to the Introduction to Wang Wei'' (2000), (by

Pain Not Bread Pain is a distressing feeling often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, ...

) *''Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida'' (2004), (winner of the 2004 Governor General's Award, the 2005 Canadian

and the 2005

Pat Lowther Award The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman.Griffin Poetry Prize biography

Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip

"Summer Grass" from ''Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida'', online at CBC Words at LargeRoo Borson's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

* Canadian Poetry Online: Roo Borson – Biography and 6 poems (Camouflage, Ten Thousand, Loyalties, Summer's Drug, Save Us From, Leaving the Island) * Archives of Roo Borso
(Roo Borson and Kim Maltman fonds, (R12759)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borson, Roo 1952 births Living people Canadian women poets Governor General's Award-winning poets Writers from Berkeley, California University of British Columbia alumni Writers from Toronto 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers