Awards
Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award, runnerup, 1987; winner, 1993, 1995.
Roundhouse Poetry Award, first place, 1989; 1990.
Nova Scotia Poetry Award, first place, 1989.
Charterhouse Poetry Award, England, short list, 1990.
Humanities International Poetry, honourable mention, 1993.
Confederation Poetry Prize, special mention, 1995.
Tilden Award (CBC/ Saturday Night Magazine) second prize, 1991; short
list, 1996; winner, 1995.
Petro Canada Poet Laureate, 1996.
People's Political Poem, top ten winner, 1996.
Selected Publications
Poems Only A Dog Could Love, (poetry) Applegarth Follies, London, Ontario, 1976
Love Among the Tombstones, (poetry) Dogwood Press, Simcoe, Ontario, 1980
Fossils of the Twentieth Century, (poetry) Vesta Publications, Cornwall, Ontario, 1983
Small Worlds, (poetry) Vesta Publications, Cornwall, Ontario, 1986
Hired Hands, (poetry and prose) Brick Books, 1986
Rediscovered Sheep, (poetry) Brick Books, 1987
The Bad Philosophy of Good Cows, (poetry) Black Moss Press, Windsor, Ontario, 1989
The Hockey Player Sonnets, (poetry) Penumbra Press, 1991
The Pig Dance Dreams, (poetry) Black Moss Press, 1991
When Shaving Seems Like Suicide, (poetry) Goose Lane Editions, Fredericton, NB, 1992
The Art of Walking Backwards, (poetry) Black Moss Press, 1993
Variations on Herb, (poetry and prose) Brick Books, London, Ontario, 1993
All the Cats Are Gone, (poetry) Penumbra Press, 1993
These Are the Days of Dogs and Horses, (poetry) Black Moss Press, 1994
Head Heart Hands Health: A History of 4H in Ontario, (non fiction) Comrie Productions, Peterborough, Ontario, 1994
The Beatles Landed Laughing in New York, (poetry) Black Moss Press, 1995
Tongues of the Children, (documentary poetry and prose) Black Moss Press, 1996
Never Hand Me Anything if I am Walking or Standing, (poetry) Black Moss Press, 1997
Soldier’s Heart, (poetry) Black Moss Press, 1998
Stella’s Journey, (poetry and prose) Black Moss Press, 1999
Don’t Be So Persnickety, (children’s verse) Black Moss Press, 2000
Building Bicycles in the Dark: a practical guide to writing, (non fiction) Black Moss Press, 2001
The Half-Way Tree: selected poems of John B. Lee, (poetry) Black Moss Press, 2001
In the Terrible Weather of Guns, (documentary poetry and prose) Mansfield Press, Toronto, 2002
The Hockey Player Sonnets: overtime edition (poetry) Penumbra Press, Ottawa, Ontario, 2003
Totally Unused Heart, (poetry) Black Moss Press, 2003
The Farm on the Hill He Calls Home, (memoir) Black Moss Press, 2004
Poems for the Pornographer’s Daughter, (poetry and prose) Black Moss Press, 2005
Godspeed, (documentary poetry and prose) Black Moss Press, 2006
Left Hand Horses: meditations on influence and the imagination, Black Moss 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, 2008
Selected Chapbooks
To Kill a White Dog, (documentary poem) Brick Books, 1982
The Day Jane Fonda Came to Guelph, (poetry) The Ploughman Press, Whitby, Ontario, 1996
What’s in a Name: the pursuit of George Peacock, Namesake of Peacock Point, (essay) Dogwood Press, Brantford, Ontario, 1996
In a Language with No Word For Horses, (documentary poems) above/ground press, Ottawa, Ontario, 1997
The Echo of Your Words Has Reached Me, (poetry) Mekler & Deahl, Hamilton, Ontario, 1998
An Almost Silent Drumming: the South Africa poems, (poetry) Cranberry Tree Press, Windsor, Ontario, 2001
Thirty-Three Thousand Shades of Green, (poetry) Leaf Press, Lantzville, BC, 2004
Though Their Joined Hearts Drummed Like Larks, (documentary poetry) Passion Among the Cacti Press, Kitchener, Ontario, 2004
Bright Red Apples of the Dead, (poetry) Pooka Press, BC, 2004
How Beautiful We Are, (poetry) Souwesto Orion Prize, Black Moss Press, 2006
But Where Were the Horses of Evening, Serengeti Press, 2007
Selected Anthologies
That Sign of Perfection: From Bandy Legs to Beer Legs. Poems and Stories
on the Theme of Hockey. (Editor). (Black Moss Press, 1995).
Books in Print
Lee, John B.
All the Cats are Gone. Penumbra Press, 1993. $10.95 ISBN: 0-921254-58-X.
Beatles Landed Laughing in New York. Black Moss Press, 1995.
Ebenezer the Sneezing Dog. Black Moss Press, 1994. $4.95 ISBN: 0-88753-234-9.
Hired Hands. Brick Books, 1986. $9.95 ISBN: 0-919626-30-0.
In a Language With No Word for Horses. above/ground press, 1997. ISBN:
0-9682095-2-1.
Never Hand Me Anything if I am Walking or Standing. Black Moss Press,
1997. ISBN: 0-88753-300-0.
Poems only a Dog Could Love. Applegarth Follies, 1976. $3.95 ISBN: 0-919910-06-8.
Rediscovered Sheep. Brick Books, 1989. $9.95 ISBN: 0-919626-41-6.
Soldier's Heart. Black Moss Press, 1998. ISBN: 0-88753-314-0.
The Art of Walking Backwards. Black Moss Press, 1993. $10.95 ISBN: 0-88753-252-7.
The Bad Philosophy of Good Cows. Black Moss Press, 1989. $9.95 ISBN:
0-88753-194-6.
The Hockey Player Sonnets. Penumbra Press, 1991. $9.95 ISBN: 0-921254-25-3.
The Pig Dance Dreams. Black Moss Press, 1991. $10.95 ISBN: 0-88753-221-7.
These Are the Days of Dogs and Horses. Black Moss Press, 1994. $14.95
ISBN: 0-88753-241-1.
To Kill a White Dog. Brick Books, 1982. $5.95 ISBN: 0-919626-19-X.
Tongues of the Children: The Upper Canada Chronicles. Black Moss Press,
1996. $15.95 ISBN 0-88753-285-3.
Variations on Herb. Brick Books, 1993. $11.95 ISBN: 0-919626-62-9.
When Shaving Seems Like Suicide. Goose Lane Editions, 1992. $12.95 ISBN:
0-86492-138-1.
John B. Lee, 6 Regent St. A,
PO Box 984,
Port Dover,
ON
N0A 1N0
Email: johnb.lee@sympatico.ca
Phone: (519) 583-9027, Summer (519) 583-9451
Poet in the School
(Brantford)
phone: (519) 583-9027, Summer (519) 583-9451
Lee is an multi-award winning poet, song-writer, story-teller, and author with over twenty books to his credit. He was a full-time teacher of English, Dramatic Arts and Creative Writing for twelve years before leaving the profession for a full-time career as a poet. Since taking that step, he has been involved in teaching the craft of poetry to children and adults from kindergarten to grade 13 and beyond. He recently taught creative writing to advanced students at Canadore College in North Bay. His books include People's Poetry Award winner The Pig Dance Dreams, Variations on Herb, When Shaving Seems Like Suicide and the children's poetry book Dilly Wakeup and the Runnaway Head.
Grade Levels: all
Fees: standard
Classroom Approach:
Lee
adapts his approach to suit the requirements of the classroom teacher and the
time allotted for the workshop. He reads his own work, conducts creative writing
sessions, helps students improve on a first draft and polish a final draft of
their work. He assists students in the art of sharing by giving guidance in
both the presentation of work and in the appreciation of other student's writing.