Erin Mouré
Encyclopedia
Erin Mouré is a Canadian poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and translator of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
from languages which include, French, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish to English. (ref) Her mother Mary Irene was born 1924 in Galicia, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) and moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1929.(ref) Erin’s father is William Moure born in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1925. Erin is the oldest of 3, having two younger brothers, Ken and Bill.
In 1975 Erin moved to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, where she took her second year classes at University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. After only taking one year of classes Erin left University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
and got a job at Via Rail Canada where she continued to write poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and is where she learnt French, Erin still lives in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Writing and style
According to an interview conducted in the early 1990s, Erin has four major influences which led her to become a writer, other than the work of other writers or poets: “Landscape of cars, her mother going to work, her mother teaching her to read, and in a small way losing her sense of touch”Of her more recent work, Melissa Jacques has written: "Erin Mouré's poetry is fragmented, meta-critical and explicitly deconstructive. Folding everyday events and ordinary people into complex and often irresolvable philosophical dilemmas, Mouré challenges the standards of accessibility and common sense. Not surprisingly, her work has met with a mixed response. Critics are often troubled by the difficult and therefore alienating nature of the writing; even amongst Mouré's advocates, the issues of accessibility and political efficacy are recurrent themes."(on Moure's EPC page, external link below).
Erin has been nominated and won many writing awards for both her writing and her translation. Some of these awards are the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, Governor General's Award for poetry, A.M.Klein Prize for Poetry.
Works of petry
- Empire, York Street - 1979 (nominated for a Governor General's Award1979 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1979 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts. The 1979 awards were the first in which a list of finalists was released a month before the presentation of the awards...
) - Wanted Alive - 1983
- Domestic Fuel - 1985 (winner of the Pat Lowther AwardPat Lowther AwardThe Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. It is presented in honour of poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.-Winners:*1981 - M...
) - Furious - 1988 (winner of the 1988 Governor General's Award for poetry1988 Governor General's AwardsEach winner of the 1988 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit received $5000 dollars and a medal from the Governor General of Canada. The winners and nominees were selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-Fiction:...
) - WSW - 1989 (winner of the A. M. Klein Prize for PoetryQuebec Writers' Federation AwardsThe Quebec Writers' Federation Awards are a series of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Quebec Writers' Federation to the best works of literature in English by writers from Quebec.-Categories:...
- Sheepish Beauty, Civilian Love - 1992
- The Green Word: Selected Poems: 1973-1992 - 1994
- Search Procedures - 1996 (nominated for a Governor General's Award1996 Governor General's AwardsThe 1996 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were presented on November 14, 1996.-English Language:FictionWinner:*Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman's BoyOther Finalists:*Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace...
) - A Frame of the Book - 1999
- Pillage Laud - 1999, reissued 2011
- O Cidadán - 2002 (nominated for a Governor General's Award2002 Governor General's AwardsThe 2002 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were presented by Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada, at a ceremony at Rideau Hall on Tuesday, November 19...
) - Little theatres - 2005 (winner of the A. M. Klein Prize for Poetry, nominated for a Governor General's Award2005 Governor General's AwardsThe nominees for the 2005 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 17. Winning titles were announced on November 16...
, nominated for the Pat Lowther AwardPat Lowther AwardThe Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. It is presented in honour of poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by her husband in 1975. Each winner receives an honorarium of $1000.-Winners:*1981 - M...
, shortlisted for the 2006 Canadian Griffin Poetry PrizeGriffin Poetry PrizeThe Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
) - O Cadoiro - 2007
- Expeditions of a Chimæra(collaboration with Oana Avasilichioaei) - 2009
- O Resplandor - 2010
Translations from other languages
- Installations - 2000, translation with Robert MajzelsRobert MajzelsRobert Majzels is a Canadian novelist, poet, playwright and translator.- Life :Majzels was born in Montreal. In 1986, he graduated with a Master's degree in English Literature from Concordia University in Montreal, where he would later teach creative writing for thirteen years. Between 2000 and...
from French of Nicole BrossardNicole BrossardNicole Brossard, O.C. is a leading French Canadian formalist poet and novelist.She lives in Outremont, a former city in Montreal, Quebec. She wrote her first collection in 1965, Aube à la maison. The collection L'Echo bouge beau marks a break in the evolution of her poetry...
's Installations - Sheep's Vigil by a Fervent Person translation from Portuguese of Fernando PessoaFernando PessoaFernando Pessoa, born Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa , was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic and translator described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.-Early years in Durban:On 13 July...
/ Alberto Caeiro's O Guardador de Rebanhos- 2001 (shortlisted for the 2002 Canadian Griffin Poetry PrizeGriffin Poetry PrizeThe Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
) - Museum of Bone and Water - 2003, translation with Robert MajzelsRobert MajzelsRobert Majzels is a Canadian novelist, poet, playwright and translator.- Life :Majzels was born in Montreal. In 1986, he graduated with a Master's degree in English Literature from Concordia University in Montreal, where he would later teach creative writing for thirteen years. Between 2000 and...
from French of Nicole BrossardNicole BrossardNicole Brossard, O.C. is a leading French Canadian formalist poet and novelist.She lives in Outremont, a former city in Montreal, Quebec. She wrote her first collection in 1965, Aube à la maison. The collection L'Echo bouge beau marks a break in the evolution of her poetry...
's Musée de l'os et de l'eau - Notebook of Roses and Civilization - 2007, translation with Robert MajzelsRobert MajzelsRobert Majzels is a Canadian novelist, poet, playwright and translator.- Life :Majzels was born in Montreal. In 1986, he graduated with a Master's degree in English Literature from Concordia University in Montreal, where he would later teach creative writing for thirteen years. Between 2000 and...
from French of Nicole BrossardNicole BrossardNicole Brossard, O.C. is a leading French Canadian formalist poet and novelist.She lives in Outremont, a former city in Montreal, Quebec. She wrote her first collection in 1965, Aube à la maison. The collection L'Echo bouge beau marks a break in the evolution of her poetry...
's Cahier de roses & de civilisation (nominated for a Governor General's AwardGovernor General's AwardThe Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
; shortlisted for the 2008 Canadian Griffin Poetry PrizeGriffin Poetry PrizeThe Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
) - Charenton - 2007, translation from Galician of Chus PatoChus PatoMaría Xesús Pato Díaz , most commonly known as Chus Pato, is a Galician writer and political activist....
's Charenton - Quase Flanders, Quase Extremadura - 2008, translation from Spanish of excerpts from the poetry of Andrés Ajens
- m-Talá - 2009, translation from Galician of Chus PatoChus PatoMaría Xesús Pato Díaz , most commonly known as Chus Pato, is a Galician writer and political activist....
's m-Talá - Hordes of Writing - 2011, translation from Galician of Chus PatoChus PatoMaría Xesús Pato Díaz , most commonly known as Chus Pato, is a Galician writer and political activist....
's Hordas de escritura
Essays and other
- Two Women Talking: Correspondence 1985-1987 - 1994 (with Bronwen WallaceBronwen WallaceBronwen Wallace was a Canadian poet and short story writer.Wallace was born in Kingston, Ontario. She attended Queen's University, Kingston . In 1970, she moved to Windsor, Ontario, where she founded a women's bookstore and became active in working class and women's activist groups...
) - My Beloved Wager essays - 2009
External links
- Moure at the Electronic Poetry Center
- Erín Moure
- Erin Moure entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Erin Moure entry in the Dictionary of Literary Biography
- Griffin Poetry Prize biography
- Griffin Poetry Prize readings, including video clips
- Materiality, intentionality, and the computer-generated poem: reading Walter Benn Michaels with Erin Moure's Pillage Laud, by Lori Emeren, at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7010/is_4_34/ai_n53118875/?tag=mantle_skin;content