Maurice Mierau
Encyclopedia
Maurice Mierau is a full-time Canadian writer of non-fiction and poetry. Though he was born in Bloomington, Indiana, Maurice Mierau grew up in Nigeria
, Manitoba
, Jamaica
, Kansas
and Saskatchewan
. Mierau currently lives with his family in Winnipeg
, Manitoba and from 2006-2008 he was president of the League of Canadian poets.
Mierau's main interests are history, violence, language and music. Before becoming a writer, Mierau spent more than a decade selling computers and working as a technical writer in the information technology field. Maurice holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Manitoba. When interviewed about his writing, Mierau stated: "I hate writing first drafts, but without them, nothing gets done. After the first draft, I love to re-write and work with structural and narrative devices." Further, Mierau tells new writers to : "Read deeply. Read a lot. Don't worry about publishing. Take notes. Re-read. Learn a foreign language."
treatment program. In 1988-90 Maurice was review editor for Prairie Fire Magazine and in 1990 was the founding editor of Prairie Book World, currently known as, Prairie Books Now. From 2002-2006 Mierau taught technical writing in the Business Computing Department at the University of Winnipeg
. From the years 2005-2008 he worked as a poet and teacher in “The Artists in the Schools” program and had residencies in four Winnipeg high schools. He was a poetry editor for Geez (magazine) from 2007–2010 and also co-editor for Contemporary Verse 2 through the same years. In 2008 Maurice served as a mentor for an emerging poet in the “Manitoba Writer’s Guild” mentor-ship program and again in 2011. From 2009-2010 he was a writer in residence at the Winnipeg Public Library
. He presently works as a poetry co-editor for CV2 magazine, as the editor of the online literary magazine The Winnipeg Review, and as an associate editor for Enfield & Wizenty.
and Mennonite
history, as framed by the book Martyr's Mirror. In other poems he looks at the plight of Mennonite farmers in Saskatchewan during the 1930s and his own family's experience of fleeing from the Ukraine near the end of World War 2.
Other poems in the book examine historical figures like Louis Armstrong
and Lenny Breau, highlighting the immortalizing effect of artistic expression.
The style is influenced by some writers, particularly Patrick Friesen and Robert Kroetsch. In Ending With Music the poetic style tends to be unadorned, while there is some use of sonnets and rhyming schemes.
, sestina, nonce
form).
The book was commissioned by the Manitoban chapter of the Canadian Lung Association
for their tuberculosis treatment program.
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
and 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....
. Mierau currently lives with his family in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba and from 2006-2008 he was president of the League of Canadian poets.
Mierau's main interests are history, violence, language and music. Before becoming a writer, Mierau spent more than a decade selling computers and working as a technical writer in the information technology field. Maurice holds an MA in English Literature from the University of Manitoba. When interviewed about his writing, Mierau stated: "I hate writing first drafts, but without them, nothing gets done. After the first draft, I love to re-write and work with structural and narrative devices." Further, Mierau tells new writers to : "Read deeply. Read a lot. Don't worry about publishing. Take notes. Re-read. Learn a foreign language."
Literary career
Maurice Mierau began writing informally at the age of nine as a way to express himself. With inspiration from the Bible and music, he has published two poetry books: Fear Not in 2008 and Ending with Music in 2002. In 2005 he was asked by The Manitoba Lung Association to write Memoir of a Living Disease for their tuberculosisTuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
treatment program. In 1988-90 Maurice was review editor for Prairie Fire Magazine and in 1990 was the founding editor of Prairie Book World, currently known as, Prairie Books Now. From 2002-2006 Mierau taught technical writing in the Business Computing Department at the University of Winnipeg
University of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg is a public university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and theology as well as graduate programs. The U of W's founding colleges were Manitoba College and Wesley College, which merged...
. From the years 2005-2008 he worked as a poet and teacher in “The Artists in the Schools” program and had residencies in four Winnipeg high schools. He was a poetry editor for Geez (magazine) from 2007–2010 and also co-editor for Contemporary Verse 2 through the same years. In 2008 Maurice served as a mentor for an emerging poet in the “Manitoba Writer’s Guild” mentor-ship program and again in 2011. From 2009-2010 he was a writer in residence at the Winnipeg Public Library
Winnipeg Public Library
The Winnipeg Public Library is a public library service that is provided by the municipality of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Most branches provide programming for children, teens, and some to adults. The Library also contains an Outreach Department which works with the community, as well as people...
. He presently works as a poetry co-editor for CV2 magazine, as the editor of the online literary magazine The Winnipeg Review, and as an associate editor for Enfield & Wizenty.
Writing Style
In Mierau’s first book of poetry, Ending with Music, he uses a conventional poetic form which is not unique other than in content and style. The poems in Ending with Music tell the stories of events and people. The poetry, though dealing with generally conventional subject matter, has a slight stylistic twist to it. The poems have a unique perspective which at first might not be recognized and which alter the reader’s perceptions of the stories in subtle ways. These poems are at times darkly humorous, heart wrenching, or illuminating and fulfilling. Mierau’s most radical work is Fear Not, his second book of poetry. This book takes the form of many poems which are all connected by form. The book is written as if it is a collection of biblical psalms; however the subject matter and literary style could not be less biblical. Mierau uses techniques such as irony and juxtaposition to intensify the messages and experience of his writing. The juxtaposition is one of form and style against content. Mierau’s poems are well crafted and lyrical and unfailingly mirror the ancient biblical form of the psalm, yet they are dealing with the harsh realities of a modern world and are unrelentingly accurate in describing the human experience.Ending With Music (2002)
Ending With Music,Maurice Mierau's first book was published by Brick Books in 2002. The book is a collection of poems that deal with themes of violence, suicide, martyrdom, music, and pop culture. These themes are explored through the lens of AnabaptistAnabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
and Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
history, as framed by the book Martyr's Mirror. In other poems he looks at the plight of Mennonite farmers in Saskatchewan during the 1930s and his own family's experience of fleeing from the Ukraine near the end of World War 2.
Other poems in the book examine historical figures like Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
and Lenny Breau, highlighting the immortalizing effect of artistic expression.
The style is influenced by some writers, particularly Patrick Friesen and Robert Kroetsch. In Ending With Music the poetic style tends to be unadorned, while there is some use of sonnets and rhyming schemes.
Fear Not (2008)
Fear Not, published by Turnstone Press in 2008, is a collection of poems that parody the self-help topics in the Gideon Bible. The poems intermingle biblical passages with contemporary self-help and advertising language. Poems are based upon the directory at the end of the Gideon Bible that suggests readings based on the readers state of mind, such as “Tempted to Lie”. Although based on the Gideon Bible the subject matter of the poems often diverge to reference pop culture, the holocaust and his family. Formally, this book represents a significant stylistic departure from his first book,Ending with Music. The poems are set up in two columns, like the King James Bible but use traditional formal shapes of English poetry (sonnetSonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
, sestina, nonce
Nonce
Nonce may refer to:* Nonce, time being: the present occasion; "for the nonce"* Nonce word, a word used to meet a need that is not expected to recur* Cryptographic nonce, a number or bit string used only once, in security engineering...
form).
Memoir of a Living Disease (2005)
Memoir of a Living Disease, published by Great Plains Publication in 2005, is a non-fiction history of the treatment and current impact of tuberculosis in the world, focusing on Manitoba. The book deals with a First Nations community that had one of the highest rates of tuberculosis infection in Canada, a result of poverty and sub-standard housing. The book includes interviews with about 60 front-line tuberculosis researchers and medical practitioners.The book was commissioned by the Manitoban chapter of the Canadian Lung Association
Canadian Lung Association
The Canadian Lung Association is a national organization and volunteer-based health charity, The Lung Association depends on donations from the public to support lung health research, education, prevention and advocacy[1]....
for their tuberculosis treatment program.
Works in Progress
Maurice Mierau is currently working on two books: a book of poetry titled Six, and another non-fiction book about his father's escape to Canada from the Ukraine.Awards and Nominations
- 2003: Ending With Music is nominated for the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book
- 2003: The John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer
- 2006: Winner of a Margaret McWilliams Award from the Manitoba Historical Society for Memoir of a Living Disease
- 2009: Winner of the ReLit AwardThe ReLit AwardsThe ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundland author Kenneth J. Harvey they are considered the pre-eminent literary prize in independent Canadian publishing...
for Poetry for Fear Not - 2009: Nominated for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year AwardMcNally Robinson Book of the Year AwardThe McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award is associated with Brave New Words: The Manitoba Writing and Publishing Awards and was established in 1988. It is presented to the Manitoba writer whose adult English language book is judged the best written...
for Fear Not. - 2009: Nominated for the Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for PoetryAqua Books Lansdowne Prize for PoetryAqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry/prix Lansdowne de poésie, established in 2007, is awarded annually to the best full length adult book of poetry in either French or English by a resident of Manitoba, Canada....
.