Member Profile

Roo Borson

Photo: Cameron Hayne

Roo Borson is a poet and essayist, and is a member (along with Kim Maltman and Andy Patton) of the collaborative group "Pain Not Bread"; she and Kim Maltman also publish collaboratively under the pen name "Baziju". She has served as writer-in-residence at numerous universities, and has given workshops across North America and readings in several countries. Her most recent works include Box Kite: Prose Poems by Baziju (a collaboration with Kim Maltman) published by House of Anansi in 2016, and Cardinal in the Eastern White Cedar, the final volume in her poetic triptych (including Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida and Rain; road; an open boat), published by McClelland & Stewart in 2017. Her work has been awarded the Griffin Poetry Prize, the Governor General's Award, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and CBC prizes for both poetry and essay. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of British Columbia, and lives in Toronto.

E-mail: c/o Writers' Union of Canada
Phone number:
416-656-0038

Publications

Water Memory. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1996
Night Walk: Selected Poems. Toronto: Oxford UP, 1994
The Transparence of November/Snow. co-author Kim Maltman. Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1985
Introduction to the Introduction to Wang Wei. co-authors Kim Maltman and Andy Patton, Brick Books, 2000
Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida. McClelland & Stewart, 2004
Landfall. Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1977
In the Smoky Light of the Fields. Three Trees Press, 1980
Rain. Penumbra Press, 1980
A Sad Device. Quadrant Editions, 1981
The Whole Night, Coming Home. McClelland & Stewart, 1984
Intent, Or the Weight of the World. McClelland & Stewart, 1989
Night Walk (chapbook). Missing Link, 1981
Rain; road; an open boat. McClelland and Stewart, 2012
Personal History. Pedlar Press, 2008
Box Kite: Prose Poems by Baziju (Roo Borson and Kim Maltman). House of Anansi Press, 2016
Cardinal in the Eastern White Cedar. McClelland and Steward, 2017

Awards

Shortlisted, Governor General's Award for Poetry for Night Walk: Selected Poems, 1994; The Whole Night, Coming Home, 1984
Malahat Long Poem Prize, 1993
Winner, CBC Literary Competition for Poetry, 1982 and 1989
Winner, CBC Literary Competition for Personal Essay, 1991
Governor General's Award for Poetry for Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida, 2004
Pat Lowther Memorial Poetry Prize for Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida, 2005
Griffin Poetry Prize for Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida, 2005

WITS

Presentation Length:
40 - 80 minutes
Genre:
Poetry, Essays (creative non-fiction)
Grades:
9-12
Audience size:
variable
Northern OAC WITS:
No
One session:
$200
Two sessions:
$400
One session:
$100
Two sessions:
$300
GST:
GST not applicable