Barrie Phillip Nichol
| Barrie P. Nichol | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
30 September 1944 Vancouver |
| Died | 25 September 1988 (aged 43) Toronto |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Literary movement |
Concrete poetry; The Four Horsemen |
| Notable works | The Martyrology |
| Notable awards | Governor General's Award for poetry |
| Website | |
| http://www.bpnichol.ca | |
Barrie Phillip Nichol (30 September 1944 Vancouver, British Columbia – 25 September 1988 Toronto, Ontario), who, known as bpNichol, was a Canadian poet, writer, sound poet , editor and grOnk/Ganglia Press publisher. His body of work encompasses poetry, children's books, television scripts,novels, short fiction, computer texts, and sound poetry. His love of language and writing, evident in his many accomplishments, continues to be carried forward by many.
Though Nichol's early writing consisted of fiction and lyrical poems, he first received international recognition in the 1960s for concrete poetry. The first major publications included Journeying & the returns (1967), a purple box containing visual & lyrical poems and Konfessions of an Elizabethan Fan Dancer (1969) a book of concrete poetry. He won the 1970 Governor General's Award for poetry with not one but four publications: the prose booklet The True Eventual Story of Billy the Kid a collection of lyrical poems, Beach Head, the boxed concrete sequence, Still Water and The Cosmic Chef, a boxed anthology of concrete and visual poetry.
His best known work, The Martyrology (1972-1992) is an open-ended, lifelong poem that investigates language. The 'saints' are drawn from 'st' words (storm becomes St. Orm) and their spiritual quest provides a springboard from which linguistic issues of textuality, reading and writing are explored.
...
Wikipedia