David O'Meara

David O'Meara (born 1968 in Pembroke, Ontario) is a Canadian poet. Since 2024 he has been the English-language poet laureate of Ottawa, Ontario.

Life He was raised in Pembroke, Ontario. He lives in Sandy Hill, Ottawa, where he tends bar at The Manx Pub. He is known as the Awkward Brother of Canadian Poetry.

O'Meara was a judge for the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Awards Gerald Lampert Award, for Storm Still 2004 Lampman-Scott Award, for The Vicinity

Works

Poetry "Traffic"; "Rain", Drunken Boat, Spring 2001

Plays DISASTER

Music "Sing Song", a collaboration with the Ottawa-based group "the HILOTRONS", based on his poetry collection, A Pretty Sight.

Criticism

His poem "Field Crossing" , which appeared in the collection Storm Still, has been set to music by Ottawa-born composer C. Scott Tresham. The work, entitled "Field-Crossing:A Pastoral Cantata for Unaccompanied Chorus, was commissioned by the Ottawa Choral Society, and premiered by the choir in 2003, under the direction of conductor Iwan Edwards.