Biography

Poet Laureate of Brantford and acclaimed Canadian poet with over 45 books published and 60+ international awards.

In 2005 John B. Lee was inducted as Poet Laureate of Brantford in perpetuity. The same year he received the distinction of being named Honourary Life Member of The Canadian Poetry Association. In 2007 he was made a member of the Chancellor's Circle of the President's Club of McMaster University.

A recipient of over sixty prestigious international awards for his writing, he is winner of the $10,000 CBC Literary Award for Poetry, the only two time recipient of the People's Poetry Award, and 2006 winner of the inaugural Souwesto Orison Writing Award (University of Windsor/Black Moss Press). In 2007 he was named winner of the Winston Collins Award for Best Canadian Poem.

He has well-over forty-five books published to date and is the editor of six anthologies including two best-selling works: "That Sign of Perfection": poems and stories on the game of hockey; and "Smaller Than God": words of spiritual longing.

His work has appeared internationally in over 500 publications, and has been translated into French, Spanish, Korean and Chinese. He has read his work in nations all over the world including South Africa, France, Korea, Cuba, Canada and the United States. He has received letters of praise from Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Australian Poet Les Murray, and Senator Romeo Dallaire.

Called "the greatest living poet in English," by poet George Whipple, he lives in Port Dover, Ontario where he works as a full time author.

Published Books

• 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, (forthcoming, Black Moss Press, 2008)
• Island on the Wind-Breathed Edge of the Sea, Hidden Brook Press, 2009
• Dressed in Dead Uncles, Black Moss press, 2010
• Being Human, Sanbun Publishing, 2010
• In the Muddy Shoes of Morning, Hidden Brook Press, 2010
• King Joe: A Matter of Treason--The LIfe and Times of Joseph Willcocks, Heronwood Enterprises, 2011
• Let Us Be Silent Here (2012) - Read a review of this book by Yosef Gotlieb Read Review
• In This We Hear the Light (the Cuba poems), Hidden Brook Press, 2012 poems by John B. Lee, photographs by Tai Grove
• You Can Always Eat the Dogs: the hockeyness of ordinary men, Black Moss Press, 2012

Published 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, ON, 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, ON, 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)
• One Leaf in the Breath of the World, Beret Days Book, (winner of the Grassroots Chapbook award) 2009
• Let Light Try All the Doors, Rubicon Press, (winner of the Rubicon Press chapbook award) 2009

Books Edited by John B. Lee

• That Sign of Perfection: From Bandy Legs to Beer Legs (poems and stories on the game of hockey), (anthology) Black Moss Press, 1995
• Losers First: poems and stories on game and sport, (anthology) Black Moss Press, 1999
• I Want to Be the Poet of Your Kneecaps: poems of quirky romance, (anthology) Black Moss Press, 1999
• Following the Plough: poems and stories on the land, (anthology) Black Moss Press, 2000
• Henry's Creature: poems and stories on the automobile, (anthology co-edited with Roger Bell) Black Moss Press, 2000
• Smaller Than God: words of spiritual longing, (anthology co-edited with Brother Paul Quenon) Black Moss Press, 2001
• Body Language: a head-to-toe anthology, (anthology) Black Moss Press, 2003
• Witness: anthology of war poetry, (anthology) Serengeti Press, Mississauga, Ontario, 2004
• Let Light Try All the Doors: words from La Roche D'Hys, (Mosaic Press, 2008)
• Sweet Cuba: The Building of a Poetic Tradition: 1608-1958 Cuban poetry in Spanish with English translations by Dr. Manuel de Jesus Velazquez Leon and John B. Lee, Hidden Brook Press, 2010
• Tough Times: When the money doesn't love us, Edited by John B. Lee, Black Moss Press, 2010
• When the Full Moon Comes: poems and stories from Santiago de Cuba, selected and edited by John B. Lee, Hidden Brook Press, 2011
• An Unfinished War: War of 1812 poetry and prose, selected and edited by John B. Lee, Black Moss Press, 2012
• Beyond the Seventh Morning: poems on spirituality and nature, co-edited by Manuel Leon and John B. Lee, Hidden Brook Press, 2012

Awards & Recognition

• American Poetry Association's Annual Poetry Award, 1st place, 1985
• Cross-Canada Writer's Quarterly, 2nd Runner Up, 1988
• Roundhouse Poetry Award, 1st place, 1989 and 1990
• The Nova Scotia Poetry Award, 1st place, 1989
• Charterhouse Poetry Award of London England, short-list, 1990
• CBC Radio Literary Award for Poetry, 2nd place, 1990
• Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award, Runner-up 1987, Winner 1993 and 1995
• The League of Canadian Poets Competition, Honourable Mention, 1993
• Matrix Magazine Travel Writing Award, 1st Place, 1994
• The Tilden Award, (CBC Radio/Saturday Night Magazine), Winner, 1995
• Confederation Poetry Award, Honourable Mention, 1995
• Humanitas Poetry Award, Honourable Mention, 1995
• Canadian Writer's Journal Poetry Award, Honourable Mention, 1995
• The Tilden Award, short list, 1996
• People's Poetry Award, winner, 1996
• Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award, short list, 1996
• Arc Magazine Best Poem Award, Honourable Mention, 1996
• Petro-Canada Poet Laureate, 1996
• CBC Literary Awards, short list, 1997
• Trillium Awards, Nominee, 1996 and 1997
• Canadian Author's Association Literary Awards, Nominee, 1996 and 1997
• Leacock Poetry Award, top-ten, 1997
• O.A.C. Works in progress grants, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
• Frith Press Chapbook Award, Honourable Mention, 1997
• Acorn-Rukeyser Chapbook Award, short-list, 1998
• Sandburg Livesay Short list, 1997 and 1998
• People's Political Poem Award, winner, Winter 1997
• Amethyst Magazine Harbour Writing Award, winner, 1997
• Fiddlehead Magazine Poetry Award, short-list, 1998
• Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award, short-list 1998
• This Magazine's Great Canadian Literary Hunt, Honourable Mention, 1998
• The Canadian Literary Awards, short list (CBC radio/Saturday Night, 1998)
• People's Poetry Award, nominee, 1999
• Canadian Author's Association Poetry Book Award, nominee, 1999
• b p Nichol Chapbook Award, nominee, 1999
• Pushcart Prize, Nominee, 1999
• Literary Network News, Top Ten Canadian Poetry books, winter 1999
• Literary Network News, Top Five Canadian Poetry chapbooks, spring 1999
• University of Windsor Review Poetry Prize, third place, 2000
• Cranberry Tree Press Poetry award, first place, 2000
• Lexikon Poetry Award, 2000
• Sandburg Livesay Poetry Award, Honourable Mention, 2000
• Milton Acorn Memorial People's Poetry Award, short-list 1999-2000
• Editor's Prize Open Window II
• Shaunt Basmajian Chapbook Award Short list, 2003
• The Great Canadian Literary Hunt, short list, 2003
• Canadian Literary Award short list, 2002
• Certificate of Excellence for outstanding achievement in literature, Ridgetown District High School Hall of Fame, April 28, 2002
• Ontario Poetry Society Life Member, 2002
• Eric Hill Award of Literary Excellence in poetry, Qwerty magazine and University of New Brunswick, spring 2003
• Ontario Poetry Society chapbook award Honourable Mention, 2003
• Eric Hill Award of Literary Excellence in poetry, Qwerty magazine and University of new Brunswick, 2005
• CV2 poetry award, 2nd place, 2005
• Shaunt Basmajian chapbook award, First Runner Up, 2005
• Acorn Rukeyser chapbook award, short list, 2005
• Canadian Poetry Association Life Member Award, 2005
• appointed Poet Laureate of Brantford, 2005
• Souwesto Poetry Award, 2006
• Acorn Plantos People's Poetry Award short list, 2006
• CBC Literary Awards, short list, 2006
• Tracking a Serial Poet, short list, 2006
• Canada Council Writers' Grant, $20,000 (spring 2006)
• Vallum Poetry Award, 2nd prize, spring 2006
• Winston Collins Award for the Best Canadian Poem of 2007