Member Profile

Barry Dempster

Dempster
Photo: Cynthia Leroy 1998

Barry Dempster was born in Toronto, Ontario, and educated in child psychology. He has worked at both the Children's Aid and the Queen Street Mental Health Centre. From 1990 to 1997, he was Poetry and Reviews Editor for Poetry Canada. Currently, he conducts creative writing workshops in elementary and secondary schools across Ontario. He is also senior editor with Brick Books.

E-mail: barrydempster@rogers.com
Phone number:
c/o Writers' Union of Canada

Publications

Letters from a Long Illness with the World: the D.H. Lawrence poems. London, ON: Brick Books, 1993.
The Ascension of Jesse Rapture. Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1993.
Writing Home. Ottawa, ON: Oberon Press, 1989.
The Burning Alphabet. Brick Books, 2005
The Words Wanting Out, Poems Selected & New. Nightwood Editions, 2003

Awards

Scarborough Bicentennial Award of Merit, 1996.
Confederation Poets Prize, 1995.
Honourable mention, Confederation Poets Prize, 1994.
Shortlisted, Governor General's Award, for Poetry, 1982.
Shortlisted, Governor General's Award for Poetry for The Burning Alphabet, 2005
Canadian Authors Association Jack Chalmers Award for Poetry for The Burning Alphabet, 2006
Eligible for National Public Readings Program :
Yes

WITS

Presentation Length:
1 -2 hours
Genre:
Poetry
Grades:
4 - 12
Audience size:
20 - 40
Northern OAC WITS:
No
One session:
$200
Two sessions:
$300
One session:
$100
Two sessions:
$200
GST:
GST not applicable