Kevin Connolly (writer)
Encyclopedia
Biography
Kevin Connolly is a Canadian poet, free-lance editor and critic who was born in Biloxi, MississippiBiloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
and grew up in Maple, Ontario
Maple, Ontario
Maple is a high-growth suburban community northwest of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Vaughan in York Region.-Geography:The west branch of the Don River rises to the northwest and flows 1 km west of Maple. Several creeks are to the east and the Black Creek begins slightly west...
. Connolly has served as an editor for presses such as ECW Press
ECW Press
ECW Press is a North American small press book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named Essays on Canadian Writing. Five years later, ECW published its first books - trade and scholarly titles...
, House of Anansi Press
House of Anansi Press
House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction....
and Coach House Press. Connolly graduated from York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts with honors and currently resides in Toronto with his partner, Canadian writer Gil Adamson
Gil Adamson
Gil Adamson is a Canadian writer. She won the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 2008 for her 2007 novel The Outlander.Adamson's first published work was Primitive, a volume of poetry, in 1991...
. After leaving York University, Connolly co-founded what! magazine with fellow York graduate, Jason Sherman
Jason Sherman
Jason Sherman is a Canadian playwright and screenwriter.After graduating from the creative writing program at York University in 1985, Sherman co-founded What Publishing with Kevin Connolly, which produced what, a literary magazine that he edited from 1985 to 1990...
. What! magazine published from 1985 to 1993 and was considered highly influential. Connolly incorporates the strategies and technique of language poetry in his work and his poetry has appeared in a number of small presses, including The Monika Schnarre story and Deathcake. In 1998, Eye weekly
Eye Weekly
Eye Weekly was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The following week, Torstar launched a successor publication, The Grid.-...
(a Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
newspaper based division) hired Connolly to write columns on poetry, food and theatre but by 2004 he left to start working as an editor for Coach House press.
Works and criticisms
In 1995, Connolly released his first collection of work, Asphalt cigar (coach House Press), which was nominated for the league of Canadian poets’ Gerald Lampert AwardGerald Lampert Award
The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is made annually by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert...
for best first book of poetry. Upon releasing Asphalt cigar (1995), Connolly was one of six writers featured in Blues and True Concussions (House of Anansi Press
House of Anansi Press
House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction....
, 1996), an anthology of new Toronto poets. In 2002, Connolly released his second collection of work titled Happyland (ECW Press
ECW Press
ECW Press is a North American small press book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named Essays on Canadian Writing. Five years later, ECW published its first books - trade and scholarly titles...
) but did not gain greater recognition until the release of his 2005 collection, Drift (House of Anansi press) which won the Trillium Book Award
Trillium Book Award
The Trillium Award is given annually by the government of the Province of Ontario and is open to books in any genre: fiction, non-fiction, drama, children's books, and poetry. Anthologies, new editions, re-issues and translations are not eligible. Three jury members per language judge the...
for poetry. Connolly’s second and third collections were both successful but were commonly criticized as showing too much of his process and ‘’lacking cohesive shape’’. In 2008, Connolly released his fourth collection of work, titled Revolver (House of Anansi press), which included the poems Revolver and Orono, both nominated for the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize
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. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
. Connolly was a runner up for the Griffin poetry prize alongside writer Jeramy Dodds
Jeramy Dodds
Jeramy Dodds is a Canadian poet.Born in Ajax, Ontario, Dodds grew up in Orono, Ontario. He studied English Literature and Anthropology at Trent University, Medieval Icelandic Studies at The University of Iceland, and has worked as a research archaeologist in Canada...
’ poem, titled crabwise to the hounds, which Connolly himself edited. Connolly’s poem, Revolver, was well received and he was noted for his use of humor in writing.
Contributions to Canadian poetry
Connolly has helped educate many Canadians on poetry writing through workshops and educational competitions that focus on the process of poetry writing. During the 1990s, Connolly helped further the careers of Canadian writers by publishing the early work of Canadians such as Lynn CrosbieLynn Crosbie
Lynn Crosbie is a Canadian poet and novelist. She teaches the University of Toronto.-Life and career:Crosbie was born in Montreal, Quebec, and now lives in Toronto, Ontario....
, Gary Barwin
Gary Barwin
Gary Barwin is a Canadian writer, composer, and performer who lives in Hamilton, Ontario. He writes in a range of genres including poetry, fiction, visual and concrete poetry, music for live performers and computers, text & sound works, and writing for children and young adults...
, Daniel Jones
Daniel Jones
Daniel Jones is the name of:* Daniel Jones , phonetician, author of The Pronunciation of English* Daniel Jones , chancellor of the University of Mississippi* Daniel Jones , Welsh composer...
, Stuart Ross
Stuart Ross
Stuart Ross is a Canadian fiction writer, poet, editor, and creative-writing instructor.Ross was born in Toronto's north end in 1959 and grew up in the Borough of North York. He began writing at a very young age and was first published at age 16 by Books by Kids . This book, The Thing in Exile,...
and Gil Adamson
Gil Adamson
Gil Adamson is a Canadian writer. She won the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 2008 for her 2007 novel The Outlander.Adamson's first published work was Primitive, a volume of poetry, in 1991...
, in a collection titled pinkdog chapbook. He served as a poetry judge at the 2006 great Canadian literary hunt and his poem, titled Sundial, was featured in the 40th anniversary edition of This Magazine
This Magazine
This Magazine is an independent alternative Canadian political magazine. It was launched "by a gang of school activists" in 1966 as This Magazine is About Schools, a journal covering political issues in the education system...
. His poem, titled Chain, from the 2005 Drift collection was included in a collection of works titled 30 in 30, a collection created to celebrate National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month
National Poetry Month is a celebration of poetry first introduced in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets as a way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. It is celebrated every April in the United States and in Canada as well...
.
Works
- Asphalt Cigar (1995)
- Happyland (2002)
- Drift (2005)(Winner of the Trillium Book Award)
- Revolver (2008) (shortlisted for the 2009 Canadian Griffin Poetry PrizeGriffin Poetry PrizeThe Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
)