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Earle Alfred Birney, OC
Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is Canada's highest civilian order and is the centrepiece of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada. Membership in the order is accorded to those who exemplify the order's Latin motto, taken from Epistle to the Hebrews 11:16, desiderantes meliorem patriam, meaning "They desire a better country."...
, FRSC (13 May 1904 – 3 September 1995) was a distinguished Canadian
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 poet. He was twice winner of the Governor General's Award for Literature (for David and Other Poems, 1942, and for Now Is Time, 1945).

Life
Born in Calgary, Alberta
Alberta

Alberta is one of Canada Canadian Prairies Provinces and territories of Canada. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S....
, and raised on a farm in Erickson, near Creston
Creston, British Columbia

Creston is a town of 4,826 people in the Kootenays region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The town is located just a few kilometers north of the Porthill, Idaho border crossing into the United States and about a three-hour drive north from Spokane, Washington, Washington....
, his childhood was somewhat isolated. After working as a farm hand, a bank clerk, and a park ranger, Birney went on to college to study chemical engineering
Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the application of physical science , with mathematics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms....
 but graduated with a degree in English.






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Earle Alfred Birney, OC
Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is Canada's highest civilian order and is the centrepiece of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada. Membership in the order is accorded to those who exemplify the order's Latin motto, taken from Epistle to the Hebrews 11:16, desiderantes meliorem patriam, meaning "They desire a better country."...
, FRSC (13 May 1904 – 3 September 1995) was a distinguished Canadian
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
 poet. He was twice winner of the Governor General's Award for Literature (for David and Other Poems, 1942, and for Now Is Time, 1945).

Life


Born in Calgary, Alberta
Alberta

Alberta is one of Canada Canadian Prairies Provinces and territories of Canada. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S....
, and raised on a farm in Erickson, near Creston
Creston, British Columbia

Creston is a town of 4,826 people in the Kootenays region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The town is located just a few kilometers north of the Porthill, Idaho border crossing into the United States and about a three-hour drive north from Spokane, Washington, Washington....
, his childhood was somewhat isolated. After working as a farm hand, a bank clerk, and a park ranger, Birney went on to college to study chemical engineering
Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the application of physical science , with mathematics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms....
 but graduated with a degree in English. He studied at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a Canada Public university research university with campuses in Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia....
, University of Toronto
University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public university research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated a mile north of the city's Financial District, Toronto on grounds that surround Queen's Park ....
, University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is a public university research university located in Berkeley, California, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines....
 and University of London
University of London

Based primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes....
.

Through a brief and quickly annulled marriage to Sylvia Johnston, he was introduced to Trotskyism
Trotskyism

Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an Orthodox Marxism and Bolshevik-Leninism, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party....
. In the 1930s he was an active Trotskyist in Canada and Britain
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 but drifted away from the movement during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. During the conflict he served as a personnel officer in the Canadian Army, which was also the occupation of the main character of his novel, Turvey (1949).

In 1970, Birney was made an Officer
Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is Canada's highest civilian order and is the centrepiece of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada. Membership in the order is accorded to those who exemplify the order's Latin motto, taken from Epistle to the Hebrews 11:16, desiderantes meliorem patriam, meaning "They desire a better country."...
 of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is Canada's highest civilian order and is the centrepiece of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Canada. Membership in the order is accorded to those who exemplify the order's Latin motto, taken from Epistle to the Hebrews 11:16, desiderantes meliorem patriam, meaning "They desire a better country."...
.

Birney died as a result of a heart attack.

Bibliography

  • David and Other Poems - 1942
  • Now Is Time - 1945
  • The Straight of Anian - 1948
  • Turvey - 1949
  • Trail of a City and Other Verse - 1952
  • Twentieth Century Canadian Poetry - 1953 (editor)
  • Down the Long Table - 1955
  • Ice Cod Bell or Stone - 1962
  • Near False Creek Mouth - 1964
  • The Creative Writer - 1966
  • Selected Poems: 1940-1966 - 1966
  • Memory No Servant - 1968
  • pnomes jukollages & other stunzas - 1969
  • The Poems of Earle Birney - 1969
  • Rag & Bone Shop - 1971
  • The Cow Jumped Over the Moon - 1972
  • The Bear on the Delhi Road - 1973
  • what's so big about GREEN? - 1973
  • Collected Poems - 1975
  • Alphabeings and Other Seasyours - 1976
  • The Rugging and the Moving Times - 1976
  • The Damnation of Vancouver - 1977
  • Ghost in the Wheels - 1977
  • Big Bird in the Bush - 1978
  • Fall by Fury & Other Makings - 1978
  • Spreading Time - 1980
  • Words on Waves - 1985
  • Essays on Chaucerian Irony - 1985
  • Copernican Fix - 1986
  • Last Makings - 1991
  • One Muddy Hand: Selected Poems - 2006 (edited by Sam Solecki)


Discography

  • Celebration: Famous Canadian Poets on CD Canadian Poetry Association
    Canadian Poetry Association

    The Canadian Poetry Association began as a grass-roots organization dedicated to promoting the reading, writing, publishing and preservation of poetry in Canada through the individual efforts of members; promoting communication among poets, publishers and the general public; encouraging leadership and participation from members and to encoura...
     (with Irving Layton
    Irving Layton

    Irving Layton, Order of Canada was a Canada poet.He was known for his "tell it like it is" style which won him a wide following but also made enemies....
    ) 2001 ISBN 1-55253-029-9


External links


  • entry in
  • at University of British Columbia Archives