John Busteed Lee is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 who is presently Poet Laureate

Poet Laureate

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

 of Brantford, Ontario

Brantford, Ontario

Brantford is a city located on the Grand River in Southern Ontario, Canada. While geographically surrounded by the County of Brant, the city is politically independent...

. He has received more than 60 prestigious international awards for poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

.

Early life

Born in Southwestern Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Lee was raised on a farm near the village of Highgate. He went to Ridgetown District High School, where he wrote some of his earliest poems and has been named to the RDHS Hall of Excellence along with other distinguished alumni. He attended the University of Western Ontario

University of Western Ontario

The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...

 where he received an Honours B.A. in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, and a B.Ed. and M.A.T. in English. In 2010 he was received the UWO Alumni Award of Merit for Professional Achievement in recognition for his career as a poet/author/editor/performer/mentor.

Career

Lee is the author of thirty-seven published books and ten published chapbook

Chapbook

A chapbook is a pocket-sized booklet. The term chap-book was formalized by bibliophiles of the 19th century, as a variety of ephemera , popular or folk literature. It includes many kinds of printed material such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales,...

s and he is the editor of nearly ten published anthologies. A popular performer

Performing arts

The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

 of children's poems

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and songs, he has been a writer-in-residence at the University of Windsor

University of Windsor

The University of Windsor is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students...

, Kitchener Public Library, and Hillfield Strathallen private school. Lee has also been a visiting professor at University of Western Ontario, University of Windsor, Canador College, and a guest speaker at the University of the Witwatersrand

University of the Witwatersrand

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...

 in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, and many universities throughout Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In 2005 John B. Lee was named Poet Laureate of the City of Brantford in perpetuity. He was named Member of the President's Circle of McMaster University and his personal collection of Canadian Poetry was donated to the City Library where it is available for circulation under the title "The Poet Laureate Collection".

Lee is the recipient of the following awards:

• Twice Winner of The People's Poetry Award;
• Twice recipient of the Canadian Literary Award (CBC Radio);
• Twice Winner of the Eric Hill Award of Excellence in Poetry (2004 and 2005); and
• Recipient of over 70 prestigious international awards for poetry.
• Appointed Poet Laureate of the City of Brantford in perpetuity in 2005
• Appointed Poet Laureate of Norfolk County, 2010-2014

He is also an honorary life member of the following associations:

• Canadian Poetry Association
  Canadian Poetry Association
  The Canadian Poetry Association began as a grass-roots organization dedicated to promoting the reading, writing, publishing and preservation of poetry in Canada through the individual efforts of members; promoting communication among poets, publishers and the general public; encouraging leadership...
  
  ;
• The Ontario Poetry Society.

Publications

• Poems Only A Dog Could Love, Applegarth Follies, 1976
• Love Among the Tombstones, Dogwood Press, 1980
• Fossils of the Twentieth Century, Vesta Publications, 1983
• Hired Hands, Brick Books, 1986 (Runner Up for the People's Poetry Award)
• Small Worlds, Vesta Publications, 1986
• Rediscovered Sheep, Brick Books, 1989
• The Bad Philosophy of Good Cows, Black Moss Press, 1989
• The Pig Dance Dreams, Black Moss Press, 1991 (Winner of the People's Poetry Award)
• The Hockey Player Sonnets, Penumbra Press, 1991
• When Shaving Seems Like Suicide, Goose Lane Editions
  Goose Lane Editions
  Goose Lane Editions is a Canadian book publishing company founded in 1954 in Fredericton, New Brunswick as Fiddlehead Poetry Books by Fred Cogswell and a group of students and faculty from the University of New Brunswick. After Cogswell retired in 1981, his successor, Peter Thomas, changed the name...
  
  , 1991
• Variations on Herb, Brick Books, 1993 (winner of the People's Poetry Award)
• The Art of Walking Backwards, Black Moss Press, 1993
• All the Cats Are Gone, Penumbra Press, 1993
• These Are the Days of Dogs and Horses, Black Moss Press, 1994
• The Beatles Landed Laughing in New York, Black Moss Press, 1995
• Tongues of the Children, Black Moss Press, 1996 (winner of the Tilden Award for poetry, 1995)
• Never Hand Me Anything if I Am Walking or Standing, Black Moss Press, 1997
• Soldier's Heart, Black Moss Press, 1998
• Stella's Journey, Black Moss Press, 1999
• Don't Be So Persnickety: The Runaway Sneezing Poems, Songs and Riddles, of John B. Lee, Black Moss Press, 2000
• The Half-Way Tree: Poems Selected and New, Black Moss Press, 2001
• In the Terrible Weather of Guns, Mansfield Press, 2002
• Totally Unused Heart, Black Moss Press, 2003
• Poems for the Pornographer's Daughter, Black Moss Press, 2005
• Godspeed, Black Moss Press, 2006
• But Where Were the Horses of Evening, Serengeti Press, 2007
• The Place That We Keep After Leaving, Black Moss Press, 2008
• "Island on the Wind-Breathed Edge of the Sea", Hidden Brook Press, 2009
• "Being Human" Sunbun Press, 2010
• "Dressed in Dead Uncles", Black Moss Press, 2010
• "Sweet Cuba: Cuban poetry in Spanish and English translation" Translations by John B. Lee and Manuel de Leon, Hidden Brook Press, 2010
• "In the Muddy Shoes of Morning," Hidden Brook Press, 2010

Chapbooks Broadsides and flyers

• Broken Glass, League of Canadian Poets, 1983 (poetry flyer)
• To Kill a White Dog, Brick Books, 1982 (chapbook)
• Broadside HMS Press (Toronto)
• The Day Jane Fonda Came to Guelph, Plowman Press, 1989 (chapbook)
• In a Language with No Word for Horses, Above/Ground Press, 1997
• The Echo of Your Words Has Reached Me, Mekler and Deahl, 1998 (chapbook)
• An Almost Silent Drumming: The South Africa Poems, Cranberry Tree Press, 2001
• Though Their Joined Hearts Drummed Like Larks, Passion Among the Cacti Press, 2004
• Thirty-Three Thousand Shades of Green, Leaf Press, fall 2004
• The Bright Red Apples of the Dead, Pooka Press, 2004
• "One Leaf in the Breath of the World", The Ontario Poetry Society, 2009
• "Let Light Try All the Doors," Rubicon Press, 2009

Non-Fiction

• What's In a Name?, Dogwood Press, 1994, 1998 (essay in chapbook form)
• Head Heart Hands Health: A History of 4-H in Ontario, Comri Productions, 1995 (history)
• Building Bicycles in the Dark: A Practical Guide to Writing, Black Moss Press, 2001
• The Farm on the Hill He Calls Home: A Memoir, Black Moss Press, 2004
• Left Hand Horses: a meditation on Influence and the imagination, Black Moss Press, 2007
• King Joe: A Matter of Treason--The Life and Times of Joseph Willcocks, Heronwood Productions, 2010

Editor

• "That Sign of Perfection: From Bandy Legs to Beer Legs — Poems and Stories on the Game of Hockey", Black Moss Press, 1995 (edited by John B. Lee)
• "Losers First: Poems and Stories on Game and Sport", Black Moss Press, 1999 (edited by John B. Lee)
• "I Want to Be the Poet of Your Kneecaps: Poems of Quirky Romance", Black Moss Press, 1999 (edited by John B. Lee)
• "Henry's Creature: Poems and Stories on the Automobile", Black Moss Press, 2000 (edited by Roger Bell and John B. Lee)
• "Following the Plough: Recovering the Rural — Poems and Stories on the Land", Black Moss Press, 2000 (edited by John B. Lee)
• "Smaller Than God: Words of Spiritual Longing", Black Moss Press, 2001 (edited by Brother Paul Quenon and John B. Lee)
• "Body Language: A Head-to-Toe Anthology", Black Moss Press, 2003
• Bonjour Burgundy: writing from La Roche D'Hys, Mosaic Press, 2007
• Under the Weight of Heaven: writing from Gethsemani, Black Moss Press, 2008

HI

• Tough Times:when the money doesn't love us, Black Moss Press, 2010