Kenneth Wayne Norris (born April 3, 1951)[1] is a poet, editor and professor of Canadian literature, retired from the
University of Maine.[2] He was born in New York City to Leroy and Theresa Norris,[1] attended
Stony Brook University for his BA from 1968-1972, and then moved to Montreal to pursue his MA in English at Sir George Williams University (now
Concordia University).[3] He chose Montreal because “Montreal sound like a magical, mystical place” and because of
Leonard Cohen. He “was tired of being an anti-American American in the Nixon era, and coming to Quebec (and Canada) gave [him] a positive agenda, gave [him] something positive to be.”[4] After his graduation in 1975, he spent two years in New York before returning to Montreal for his PhD in English at
McGill University, supervised by
Louis Dudek, who in 1992 described Norris as "the most important poet writing on the North American continent today".[5] He became particularly interested in Canadian modernist literature, with his thesis entitled “The Role of the Little Magazine in the Development of Modernist and Post-Modernism in Canadian Poetry”.[3]
Starting from 1975, he became involved with the Vehicule Art Gallery and Vehicule Press, reading at the gallery, and publishing with and editing at the press. He was a core member of the
Vehicule Poets.[6] From 1975-1983 he ran a literary magazine, CrossCountry, and a small press, CrossCountry Press with his friend Jim Mele in New York.[7] After the dissolution of CrossCountry due to lack of funds, Norris become the McGill-Writer-In-Residence 1983-1984. In 1985, he became a Canadian citizen and in the same year, he left Montreal to teach at the
University of Maine in Canadian literature. He has also taught at
Concordia University,
Dawson College in Montreal and
University of Western Ontario.[3]
Publications
Poetry
The Weight. Toronto, ON: Toronto, ON: Guernica Editions, 2015.
Rua da Felicidade. Vancouver, BC: New Star Books, 2013.
Floating Up to Zero. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 2011.
Asian Skies. Vancouver, QC: Talonbooks, 2010.
Going Home. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 2007.
Dominican Moon. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 2005.
Fifty. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 2003.
The Way Life Should Be. Hamilton, ON: Wolsak and Wynn Publishers Ltd., 2003.
Hotel Montreal: New and Selected Poems. Vancouver, BC: Talonbooks, 2001.
Report on the Second Half of the Twentieth Century, Books 16-22.Ste. Anne de Bellevue: The Muses’ Company.
Report on The Second Half of The Twentieth Century: Books 12-15. Ste. Anne de Bellevue: The Muses’ Company, 2000.
The Better Part of Heaven. Toronto, ON: Coach House Press, 1998.
Limbo Road. Burnaby, BC: Talonbooks, 1998.
Report on the Second Half of the Twentieth Century, Books 8-11. Ste. Anne de Bellevue: The Muses’ Company, 1998.
Odes. Toronto, ON: Coach House Press, 1997.
The Music. Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 1995.
Full Sun. Ste. Anne de Bellevue: Muses’ Company, 1993.
Alphabet of Desire. Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 1991.
In the House of No. Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1991.
Report on the Second Half of the Twentieth Century: Books I-IV. Montreal, QC: Cross Country Press, 1988.
Islands. Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1986.
In the Spirit of the Times. Ste-Anne de Bellevue, QC: The Muses' Company, 1986.
^Fetherling, George (19 April 2003). "Some writers prefer small presses: Prolific, genre-spanning Maritimer Lesley Choyce is one, Montreal poet Ken Norris is another". Vancouver Sun (British Columbia). p. D18 – via
LexisNexis. In the 1970s, Ken Norris was a key figure in the group of anglophone Montreal writers known as the Vehicule Poets.