David Donnell
Donnell moved to Toronto in 1958 before publishing his first book. Poems (1961), During this period Donnell frequented the Bohemian Embassy, where Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...

, Gwendolyn MacEwen

Gwendolyn MacEwen

Gwendolyn Margaret MacEwen was a Canadian poet and novelist. A "sophisticated, wide-ranging and thoughtful writer," she published more than 20 books in her brief life. "A sense of magic and mystery from her own interests in the Gnostics, Ancient Egypt and magic itself, and from her wonderment at...

, Milton Acorn

Milton Acorn

Milton James Rhode Acorn , nicknamed The People's Poet by his peers, was a Canadian poet, writer, and playwright. He was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island....

, and other poets estabhsh their reputations. In conjunction with John Robert Colombo

John Robert Colombo

John Robert Colombo, CM is nationally known as the Master Gatherer. He is among Canada's most prolific authors of serious books...

, Donnell printed Atwood's First book Double Persephone (1961)
Donnell Published The Blue Sky poems 1974-77 examining the relationships of his life from an oblique perspective Then Dangerous Crossings(1980) followed by A Poem About Poland
Donnell won the Canadian Comic Poet Award in 1981, and the 1983 Governor General's Award for English language poetry

Governor General's Award for English language poetry

This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Awards award for English-language poetry. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English language poetry or drama was divided.-1980s:...

 for his collection Settlements.
Donnell continued publishing with Water Street days (1989) where he examines his past and his childhood; the poems are narrative confession's; and China blues (1992) Donnell poetry offers perspective about city live and the stresses and ironic staples of urban life.
David Donnell's poetry known for its escalating fascination with prose fiction that becomes more dominant in the final sections of China Blues and Water Street Days ,and becoming a important feature in his publishing of Dancing In The Dark (1996).
David Donnell also received
Therafields Chapbook Award, 1986. City of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 Book Award, 1993.

Works

• Poems (1969)
• The Blue Sky (1977)
• Hemingway in Toronto (1982) ISBN 0-88753-090-7
• Settlements (1983) ISBN 0-7710-2849-0
• The Blue Ontario Hemingway Boat Race (1985) ISBN 0-88910-302-X.
• The Natural History of Water (1986) ISBN 0-920901-01-8
• Water Street Days (1989) ISBN 0-7710-2848-2
• China Blues: Poems and Stories (1992) ISBN 0-7710-2843-1
• Dancing in the Dark (1996) ISBN 0-7710-2833-4
• Sometimes a Great Notion (2004) ISBN 978-0-7710-2826-7

External references

• David Donnell's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia