Ken Mitchell is a Canadian poet, novelist and playwright. Mitchell was raised on a rural farm outside the city of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

. Mitchell began his post-secondary education as a journalism student at Ryerson University

Ryerson University

Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...

, 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...

. He later attended the University of Saskatchewan

University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...

, where he received his MA in English. While attending university, Mitchell wrote both short stories and plays for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

. After graduating in 1967, Mitchell joined the University of Saskatchewan's faculty, where he began teaching in the English department. Mitchell has had a notable influence in promoting Canadian literature; he took part in the founding of the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild (1969), and the Saskatchewan Playwrights Center (1982).

Mitchell is well known for his literary works depicting prairie culture. One of his most popular works Cruel Tears is “a deliberate rewriting of the story of Othello

Othello

The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...

 in a Prairie context” Produced in 1974, the musical incorporates country music into its production. Although it was met with both praise and criticism from Mitchell's peers, Cruel Tears has seen success in 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...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. An Avid traveller, Mitchell has explored much of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. He currently resides in Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, with his wife Jeanne. Mitchell has retired from the English Department at the University of Regina

University of Regina

The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a junior college in 1925, and was disaffiliated...

, but continues to write and tours as a cowboy poet.

Early life

Ken Mitchell is the oldest of ten siblings, raised on his parents' livestock farm in rural Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

. His parents come from Irish and Scottish decent, and on both sides his family are “farm people from the hills south of Moose Jaw.” Influenced by both his mother and aunt, Mitchell took an interest in literature at a young age. An avid reader, by age twelve, Mitchell was exploring works by Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...

, Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...

 and Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

. Although he grew up on a farm, Mitchell got a taste for city living through attending school in Moose Jaw, which “prompted [him] to pursue an intellectual life.”

Critical response

Ken Mitchell has received praise for his contribution to Canadian culture through his literature. Reviews of Mitchell's work often speak to his use and interest in “old-time masculinity” as a common theme. The protagonists of his literary works are commonly a mixture of rebel and hero, who are “famously tough, bad-tempered and competent.” Ken Mitchell is known as an “ardent supporter of prairie culture”, with many of his works depicting rural prairie Canadian living. Mitchell believes in the strength of “regional writing” and has been quoted to say, “growing up in the Prairies and gaining a perception of the world through this particular landscape has been very important to my development as a writer,” He remains a self-proclaimed advocate for Canadian literature, and has been an active supporter of Canadian works being exposed in other countries.

Awards

In September, 1999 Mitchell was inducted into the Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

. In 2001 he was presented with the Saskatchewan Order of Merit

Saskatchewan Order of Merit

The Saskatchewan Order of Merit is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor Frederick Johnson, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Grant Devine, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...

.

Stage Plays

• Cruel Tears (First prod. 1975)
• Davin:The Politician (First prod. 1978)
• Genesis (First Prod. 1975)
• The Great Cultural Revolution (First prod. 1981)
• Heroes (First prod. 1972)
• Little Nooton (First prod. 1979)
• Pleasant Street (First prod. 1972)
• The Medicine Line (First prod. 1976)
• The Shipbuilder (First prod. 1978)
• Sundown at Sand Valley (First prod. 1975)
• This Train (First prod. 1973)

Books

• Alternative 3 (2003)
• Gone the Burning Sun (1985)
• Farewell Old Chums" (1988)
• The Heroic Adventures of Donny Coyote (2003)
• Imaging for Students (1996)
• Proverbs for the Initiated (1999)
• Stones of the Dalai Lama (1993)
• Through the Nan Da Gate (1986)
• Witches and Idiots" (1990)