Wayne Keon is a Nipissing First Nation

Nipissing First Nation

The Nipissing First Nation consists of first nation people of Ojibwa and Algonquin descent who have lived in the area of Lake Nipissing in the Canadian province of Ontario for about 9,400 years. Though in history known by many names, they are generally considered part of the Anishinaabe peoples,...

 author and poet and member of Nipissing First Nation, an Ojibway tribe.

Background

The Nipissing First Nation has lived in the area of Lake Nipissing

Lake Nipissing

Lake Nipissing is a lake in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has a surface area of , a mean elevation of above sea level, and is located between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Excluding the Great Lakes, Lake Nipissing is the fifth-largest lake in Ontario. It is relatively shallow for a...

 in Ontario, Canada for about 9,400 years.

Wayne Keon was born in 1946 in Pembroke, Ontario

Pembroke, Ontario

Pembroke is a city in the province of Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley...

. His father, Orville Keon worked at Denison Mines

Denison Mines

Denison Mines Corp. is a Canadian uranium exploration, development, and production company. Founded by Stephen B. Roman, and best known for its uranium mining in Elliot Lake, it later diversified into coal, potash, and other projects....

 in Elliot Lake, where Keon grew up. Although his father only had a 6th grade education, he was a skilled storyteller and presented the young Keon with a gift of the complete works of W. B. Yeats. Even since he was twelve years old, Keon wrote.

Keon earned a business administration degree from the Northern Institute of Technology

Northern Institute of Technology

The Northern Institute of Technology Management is an international business school, located in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1998 as a public-private partnership of the Hamburg University of Technology and sponsoring companies....

 in Kirkland Lake, Ontario

Kirkland Lake, Ontario

Kirkland Lake is a town and municipality located in Timiskaming District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The 2006 population, according to Statistics Canada, was 8,248....

 in 1969. He has a background as a financial analyst

Financial analyst

A financial analyst, securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, or investment analyst is a person who performs financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core part of the job.-Job:...

. He worked for Rio Algom, Ltd. and was able to travel extensive including to South America. The company encourages Keon's writing and has given their South American colleagues studying English copies of his books.

Keon has read his poetry in Canada, the United States, and throughout Europe. Currently, he lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario

Richmond Hill, Ontario

Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...

.

His work is characterized by his enigmatic and unique spelling, for instance, "nd" instead of "and."

Published works

• THUNDERBIRDS OF THE OTTAWA, fictional account of a Canadian of native descent with a contemporary historical setting in the Ottawa Valley region. Co-authored by Wayne Keon and Orville Keon. Highway Bookshop, Cobalt, Ontario.
• SWEETGRASS, a modern anthology of Indian Poetry. Collection of poetry written by three members of the Keon family. Orville Keon and two sons Wayne Keon and Ronald Keon collaborated. WOK Books, Elliot Lake, Ontario.

Anthology publications

• Without Reservation. 2003. Edited by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
  Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
  Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is an Anishinaabe writer of mixed ancestry from the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation. She lives and works at Neyaashiinigmiing, Cape Croker Reserve on the Saugeen Peninsula in southwestern Ontario, and in Ottawa....
  
  . Kegedonce Press, Canada
• Native Poetry in Canada. 2001. Edited by Lally Grauer, Jeannette Armstrong, Broadview Press, Canada .
• Poetry Nation. 1998. Edited by Regie Cabico and Todd Swift, Vehicle Press, Canada
• Uncommon Wealth: an Anthology of Poetry in English. 1997. Edited by Neil Besner, Deborah Schnizer and Alden Turner, Oxford University Press, Canada
• Images of Nature. 1995. Edited by David Booth, Kids Can Press, Canada
• Voices of the First Nations. 1995. McGraw Hill Ryerson, Toronto.
• Border Lines: Contemporary Poems in English. 1995. Edited by Dr. J.A. Wainwright, Copp, Clark, Canada
• Insights: Choices. 1994. Glen Kirkland & Rd Davies, Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego.
• There Will Always Be A Sky. 1993. Edited by George Swede, Nelson Canada, Houghton Mifflin Company Nelson Canada, Canada.
• Canadian Native Literature in English: An Anthology. 1992. Canadian Indian poetry. Edited by Terry Goldie and Daniel David Moses, Oxford University Press, Canada.
• Native Writers and Canadian Writing. 1990. Edited by W. H. New, University of British Columbia Press, Canada.
• Different Masks. 1990. Edited by J. Alvin Speers, Aardvark Enterprises, Canada.
• Sacred Climaxes. 1990. Edited by Jiri Jirasek, Cosmic Trend, Canada.
• First People, First Voices. 1983. Edited by Penny Petrone, University of Toronto Press, Canada.
• Many Voices. 1977. Edited by David Day, Marilyn Bowering, J.J. Douglas Ltd, Canada
• Sweetgrass: An Anthology of Indian Poetry, 1972. Edited by Wayne Keon, Ronald Keon, and Orville Keon, Algoma Printing Service, Canada.

Periodical publications

• ACTA VICTORIANA, Victoria University, Canada
• ANTIGONISH REVIEW, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada
• ARC, Carlton University, Canada
• ARIEL, University of Calgary, Canada
• BENEATH THE SURFACE, McMaster University, Canada
• BREAKTHRU, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• CANADIAN AUTHOR & BOOKMAN, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• CANADIAN DIMENSION, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• CANADIAN FORUM, Canada
• CANADIAN LITERATURE, University of British Columbia, Canada
• CAROUSEL, University of Guelph, Canada
• CRONE PAPERS, Crossville Tennessee USA
• CROSS CANADA WRITER'S MAGAZINE, Stratford, Ontario, Canada
• DALHOUSIE REVIEW, Dalhousie University, Canada
• DANDELION, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• EXILE, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• FIDDLEHEAD, University of New Brunswick, Canada
• GATHERINGS, En'owkin Centre, Penticton, B.C., Canada
• GRAIN, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
• GREEN'S MAGAZINE, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
• THE JOURNAL, Saint Mary's University, Canada
• KANATA, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
• LINES REVIEW, Loanhead, Midlothian, Scotland
• MAINLINE, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
• MALAHAT REVIEW, University of Victoria, Canada
• MOOSEHEAD ANTHOLOGY, Concordia University, Canada
• MUSELETTER, League of Canadian Poets, Canada
• NEWEST, Saskatchewan, Canada
• NEXT EXIT, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
• POETRY WLU, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
• THE PRAIRIE JOURNAL OF CANADIAN LITERATURE, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• PRISM INTERNATIONAL, University of British Columbia, Canada
• QUEEN'S QUARTERLY, Queen's University, , Canada
• REVISTA, Universidad de Alicante, Spain
• THE STUMP, Malasapina College, Canada
• TABULA RASA, London, Ontario, Canada
• THE TORONTO SOUTH ASIAN REVIEW, Toronto, Canada
• TORONTO STAR, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• TOWER POETRY, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
• UC REVIEW, University of Toronto, Canada
• WAVES, York University, Canada

Musical performances of Wayne Keon’s work

• Storm Dances (1996). Featured in performance presenting 'Storm Dances' - selection of improvised music and poems from STORM DANCER. Performers William Beauvais
  William Beauvais
  William Eugene Beauvais is a Canadian classical guitarist and composer who has performed in the United States, Europe, and across Canada....
  
  , Julian Knight, Mhari Fyfe, Wednesday, June 1996 at Orillia, Ontario
• Storm Dances (1995). Featured in performance presenting 'Storm Dances' - selection of improvised music and poems from STORM DANCER. * performers William Beauvais, Julian Knight, Mhari Fyfe, Fall 1995 at Toronto, Ontario
• Storm Dances (1994). Featured in performance by Improv Cafe presenting 'Storm Dances' - selection of improvised music and poems from STORM DANCER. Performers William Beauvais, Julian Knight, Mhari Fyfe, Wednesday, March 16, 1994, at THE ART BAR, Matyas Cellar, 840 St. Clair Ave. W., Toronto, Ontario
• Three Impressions (1973). Musical arrangement commissioned for the Ontario Youth Choir, CBC taping Arrangement composed by Norma Beecroft, Poems from Sweetgrass, "shell," "fall," and "sundown."

External links

• "Hold the One You Love", musical video