Patricia Keeney

Patricia Keeney is widely published both in Canada and abroad. As an editor and critic, she has written extensively in Canadian journals such as The Canadian Forum, Canadian Literature and MacLean's Magazine. She is the author of seven books of poetry and a picaresque novel entitled The Incredible Shrinking Wife (Black Moss Press). A volume of her Selected Poems (Oberon Press) was published in 1996 with an introduction by the distinguished Russia poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Her poetry has also been translated into French (winning the Prix Jean Paris in 2003), Spanish, Bulgarian, Chinese and Hindi. Keeney's experiment in poetry and theatre called Vocal Braiding with sound poet and playwright Penn Kemp was published by Pendas Productions (autumn 2001). She has completed a series of conversations and poems on national and personal culture, entitled You Bring Me Wings, with the Mexican poet Ethel Krauze forthcoming from Antares Press. She has two new French translations out with Les Poémier de Plein Vent series under the Les Amis de la Poésie imprint in Bergerac and has just had a long poem on South Africa published in the journal New Contrast (University of Cape Town). A professor of Humanities and Creative Writing at York University for many years, Keeney has recently completed a new poetry manuscript and continues to work on new fiction.

 Awards
Canada-US-Mexico (NAFTA) Arts Residency (Mexico City), 1995.
Many and various conference and travel awards from York University
Prix Jean Paris for French translation in 2003

Selected Publications
Swimming Alone. (Oberon Press, 1988).
New Moon, Old Mattress. (Oberon Press, 1990).
The New Pagans. (Oberon Press, 1991).
The Book of Joan. (Oberon Press, 1994).
The Incredible Shrinking Wife. Novel. (Black Moss Press, 1995).
The Selected Poems of Patricia Keeney. (Introduction by Yevgeny Yevtushenko). (Oberon Press, 1996).
Global Warnings (Oberon Press, 1999)
Vocal Braiding (Pendas Productions, 2001) ISBN: 0-920820-32-8

Selected Anthologies
The Oberon Poetry Collection. (HarperCollins, 1992).
Borderlines. Contemporary Poems in English. (Copp Clark, 1995).
Literary and Artistic Creativity (Antares Press, 2009) ISBN: 978-155014-507-6

Books in Print
Keeney, Patricia
New Moon, Old Mattress. Oberon Press, 1990. $23.95 ISBN: 0-88750-828-6 (hb); $11.95 ISBN: 0-88750-829-4 (pb).
Swimming Alone. Oberon Press, 1988. $11.95 ISBN: 0-88750-708-5.
The Book of Joan. Oberon Press, 1994. $23.95 ISBN: 0-88750-950-9 (hb); $11.95 ISBN: 0-88750-951-7 (pb).
The Incredible Shrinking Wife. Black Moss Press, 1995.
The New Pagans. Oberon Press, 1991. $25.95 ISBN: 0-88750-861-8 (hb); $12.95 ISBN: 0-88750-862-6 (pb).
The Selected Poems of Patricia Keeney. Oberon Press, 1996. $12.95 ISBN 0-7780-1032-5.
Global Warnings (Oberon Press, 1999)
Vocal Braiding (Pendas Productions, 2001) ISBN: 0-920820-32-8

Patricia Keeney, 25381 Kennedy Road, Sutton, Ontario, L0E 1R2
Phone: 905-722-9150
Email: patdon@yorku.ca

Poet in the School
(Toronto)

 

 

phone: 905-722-9150

email: patdon@yorku.ca

 

A widely published poet both in Canada and abroad, Patricia Keeney is the author of six books of poetry and picaresque novel entitled The Incredible Shrinking Wife. A volume of her Selected Poems was published in 1996 with an introduction by the distinguished Russia poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Her poetry has also been translated and published into French, Spanish, Chinese and Hindi. One of three Canadian writers sent to Mexico in 1995 under a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) cultural exchange program, she has recently completed a series of conversations and poems on national and personal culture, entitled You Bring Me Wings with the Mexican poets Ethel Krauze. In December 2001, she undertook the launch and tour of her Hindi Selected (Vagdevi Press) in Bombay and Jaipur. Her latest volume of poetry called Global Warnings was published by Oberon in the autumn of 1999. Keeney is now working on new fiction. Published extensively as a literary and theatre critic, Keeney has taught Humanities and Creative Writing at York University for many years.

 

Grade Levels: Senior and OAC Students

 

Fees: standard

 

Classroom Approach:
Her approach is Seminar/Workshop and Editing Groups. Students need not be familiar with Keeney's work prior to her visit. With senior grades, she gives small workshops, working with small groups of students. Samples of student work, and that of others, are discussed and revision is encouraged. Keeney prefers to conduct 4-8 sessions over a period of a month, ending, where possible, with a formal one-hour reading open to both students and parents.