Patricia Keeney


Patricia Keeney is widely published both in Canada and abroad. As an editor and critic, she has written extensively in Canadian journals such as The Canadian Forum, Canadian Literature and Maclean's magazine and currently for Arc Poetry Magazine (twice winning its in-house award for the best short review) and for such online publications as Critical Stages and Critically Speaking. In 2012, she won the Nathan Cohen Award for Excellence in Theatre Criticism. Patricia is the author of ten books of poetry and two novels: a picaresque novel entitled The Incredible Shrinking Wife (Black Moss Press1995) currently being translated into French and, most recently, One Man Dancing (Inanna 2016): a novel of politics, theatre, Africa, of artistic risk and international adventure. A volume of her Selected Poems (Oberon Press) was published in 1996 with an introduction by the distinguished Russia poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Her poetry has also been translated into French (winning the Prix Jean Paris in 2003), Spanish, Bulgarian, Chinese and Hindi. Keeney's experiment in poetry and theatre called Vocal Braiding with sound poet and playwright Penn Kemp was published by Pendas Productions (2001). Her series of conversations and poems on national and personal culture, entitled You Bring Me Wings, with the Mexican poet Ethel Krauze was published in 2011 by Antares Press. She has three new French translations out with Les Poémier de Plein Vent series under the Les Amis de la Poésie imprint in Bergerac, a long poem on South Africa published in the journal New Contrast (University of Cape Town) and a long poem, Out of Iran based on recent experiences in Iran and published in Canadian Woman Studies, 2013. Her latest poetry collection, Orpheus in Our World (NeoPoiesis 2016 ) contains poetry and dialogue based on the oldest of Greek songs, the Orphic hymns. A professor of English and Creative Writing at York University for many years, Keeney continues to work on new fiction and poetry.


Related Events


Poems in Response to Peril: A Gathering of Poets for Ukraine

November 5, 2022 at 12:00pm

See event