James Reaney
| James Reaney | |
|---|---|
The Sun and the Moon The stark contrast of black and white, the strong face, the pock-marked background suggestive of the surface of the moon counterpointed by the Haida sun mask, even the reflection in the poet's left eyeglass simulating the astronaut's visor, sum up the recurrently juxtaposed images (the sun and the moon) in Reaney's A Suit of Nettles.
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| Born |
September 1, 1926 Easthope, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | June 11, 2008 London, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Writer, Artist, Poet, Playwright, |
| Language | English |
| Nationality |
 Canadian
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| Notable works | Poems (1972), The Donnellys |
| Notable awards | Order of Canada, FRSC, Governor General's Award |
| Spouse | Colleen Thibaudeau |
| Children | James Stewart, John Andrew, Susan Alice Elizabeth |
| Website | |
| www |
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James Crerar Reaney, OC FRSC (September 1, 1926 – June 11, 2008) was a Canadian poet, playwright, librettist, and professor, "whose works transform small-town Ontario life into the realm of dream and symbol." Reaney won Canada's highest literary award, the Governor General's Award, three times and received the Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama for both his poetry and his drama.
Reaney was born on a farm in Easthope near Stratford, Ontario to James Nesbitt Reaney and Elizabeth Henrietta Crerar. Almost all of Reaney's poems, stories, and plays are articulations of where he grew up. At a young age he was interested in theatre, and created a puppet show for children while in his early teens.
Reaney studied English at University College, University of Toronto, receiving his M.A. in 1949. The same year he also received the Governor General's Award, the first of three, at the age of 23, for his first book of poetry, Red Heart..
Reaney married fellow poet Colleen Thibaudeau on December 29, 1951 in St. Thomas. He has three children: two sons, James Stewart (born 1952) and John Andrew (1954), born in Toronto, Ontario and a daughter, Susan Alice Elizabeth, born 1959 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
After teaching English at the University of Manitoba from 1949 until 1956, Reaney returned to the University of Toronto to complete a doctorate awarded in 1958; Northrop Frye was his thesis supervisor. Also in 1958 Reaney released a second book of poetry, A Suit of Nettles, which again won the Governor-General's Award.
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