Mary Dalton

Position

Full Professor

Education

  • MA (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
  • BA honours (University of Toronto)

Contact Information

Research Interests

Newfoundland literature; contemporary Canadian poetry; creative writing: poetry

Selected Publications

Scholarly Books

  • Edge: Essays, Reviews, Interviews. Palimpsest Press, 2015.
  • “From Colonial Tropes to the Vernacular Muse: The Poetry of Newfoundland.” Pathways of Creativity in Contemporary Newfoundland and Labrador, edited by Marίa Jesús Hernáez Lerena, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015.

Creative Books of Poetry

  • Hooking: A Book of Centos. Véhicule Press (Signal Editions), 2013. Volume of poems.
  • Red Ledger. Véhicule Press (Signal Editions), 2006. Volume of poems.
  • Merrybegot. Rattling Books, 2005. Audiobook version.
  • Merrybegot. Véhicule Press (Signal Editions), 2003. Paperback. Volume of poems.
  • Allowing the Light. Breakwater Books, 1993. Paperback. Volume of poems.
  • The Time of Icicles. Breakwater Books, 1991. Paperback edition.

Letterpress Chapbooks

  • Waste Ground. Wood engravings by Abigail Rorer. Running the Goat Books and Broadsides, 2017.
  • Between You and the Weather. Wood engravings by Wesley W. Bates. Running the Goat Books and Broadsides, 2008.
  • Merrybegot. Linocut frontispiece by Anita Singh, Running the Goat Books and Broadsides. 2002.

Edited Books

  • Global Poetry Anthology, edited by Mary Dalton et al. Véhicule Press, 2013.
  • Wild on the Crest: Sea Poems: Newfoundland and Labrador. Co-edited with Kristina Fagan et al. Jeroboam Books, 1995.
  • The Windhorse Reader: Choice Poems of '94. Co-edited with John Castlebury et al. Samurai Press, 1995.

Edited Journals

  • Newfoundland Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 1987.
  • TickleAce. A literary journal of Newfoundland and Labrador. 1980-1986. (Co-publisher as well.)

Anthologies

  • The Best of the Best Canadian Poetry in English, edited by Anita Lahey and Molly Peacock. Tightrope Books, 2017.
  • Earth and Heaven : An Anthology of Myth Poetry, edited by Amanda Jernigan and Evan Jones. Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 2015.
  • 70 Canadian Poets, edited by Gary Geddes. Oxford University Press, 2014.
  • The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry, edited by Mark Callanan and James Langer. 2013.
  • The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2013, edited by Sue Goyette, Tightrope Books, 2013.
  • The Art of the Sonnet, edited by Stephen Burt and David Mikics, Harvard University Press (The Belknap Press), 2010.
  • Modern Canadian Poets: An Anthology of Poems in English, edited by Evan Jones and Todd Swift, Carcanet Press, 2010.
  • The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2010, edited by Lorna Crozier, Tightrope Books, 2010.
  • Open Wide a Wilderness: Canadian Nature Poems, edited by Nancy Holmes, Wilfred Laurier Press, 2009.
  • How the Light Gets In: Anthology of Poetry from Canada, edited by John Ennis, The WIT Institute, 2009.
  • Jail Breaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets, edited by ZachariahWells, Biblioasis, 2008.
  • Open Field: 30 Contemporary Canadian Poets, edited by Sina Queyras, Persea Books, 2005.
  • Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada, edited by Anne Compton et al., Goose Lane, 2002.
  • However Blow the Winds: An Anthology of Poetry and Song from Ireland & Newfoundland and Labrador, edited by John Ennis et al., The WIT Institute, 2004.
  • The Backyards of Heaven: An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry from Ireland and Newfoundland & Labrador, edited by Stephanie McKenzie and John Ennis , The WIT Institute, 2003.
  • Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada, edited by Anne Compton et al., Goose Lane, 2002.

Conference Presentations and Lectures

  • Various presentations on the dialogue novel and the work of I. Compton-Burnett, and on the plays of Samuel Beckett.
  • Readings of and commentaries on my poetry at universities and literary festivals throughout Canada and Ireland.
  • “'Look What You're After Going and Doing’: A Newfoundland Author's Reflections on the Irish Strain in Her Poetry.” 3rd Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium on Irish Studies, 24 November 2017. Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada.

Current Research Projects

  • A consideration of speech elements in poetry. (ongoing)

Current Creative Projects

  • A collection of poems, containing various sequences, some of them drawing on traditional elements of Newfoundland culture.

Other Professional Activities

  • Founder of the SPARKS Literary Festival at Memorial University. Festival Director 2009-2015.
  • Adjudication of various journal, provincial, regional, national and international poetry prizes, among them the Governor General's Award, the Global Poetry Award, the Atlantic Poetry Prize, the Winterset Award,the E. J. Pratt Poetry Award (the NL poetry book award), poetry prizes for The Malahat Review.
  • Editorial commentary on poetry manuscripts for various publishers of contemporary Canadian poetry.

Regulary Taught Courses

Undergraduate

  • English 3901: Creative Writing: Poetry
  • English 4911: Advanced Creative Writing: Poetry;
  • English 3155: Newfoundland Literature
  • English 3172: Irish Poetry;
  • English 4850: Contemporary Canadian Poetry

Graduate

  • Contemporary Canadian Poetry
  • Contemporary Canadian Poetry: The Long Poem
  • English 7120: Creative Writing: Poetry

Honours and Graduate Supervision

creative writing: poetry, Newfoundland poetry, contemporary Canadian and Irish poetry, the dialogue novels of I. Compton-Burnett, the plays of Samuel Beckett, the vernacular in poetry.