Kevin Connolly

Kevin Michael Connolly (born March 20, 1962) is a Canadian poet, editor, and teacher who was born in Biloxi, Mississippi and grew up in Maple, Ontario. Connolly has served as an editor for presses such as ECW Press, Coach House Press, and McClelland & Stewart. He is currently the poetry editor at House of Anansi Press. He has edited and published more than 60 full-length poetry collections, many of them debuts.

Connolly's book Drift won the 2005 Trillium Award, and his fourth book, Revolver, was shortlisted for the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize. He received the 2015 Artist Award from the KM Hunter Foundation.

Biography

Connolly graduated from York University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts with honors. In 1998, Eye Weekly (a Toronto Star newspaper-based division) hired Connolly to write columns on poetry, food, and theater, but by 2004, he left to start working as an editor for Coach House Press. In 2008, Connolly released his fourth collection of work, titled Revolver (House of Anansi Press), which was nominated for the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize. Revolver was well received, and Connolly was noted for his use of humor in his writing.

Connolly was a runner-up for the Griffin Poetry Prize alongside writer Jeramy Dodds' poem "crabwise to the hounds", which Connolly himself edited.

Contributions to Canadian poetry

Connolly has taught workshops and held educational competitions that focus on the process of poetry writing. During the 1990s, he published the early work of Canadians such as Lynn Crosbie, Gary Barwin, Daniel Jones, Stuart Ross and Gil Adamson in a collection titled Pink Dog Chapbook. His poem "Chain", from the 2005 Drift collection, was included in 30 in 30, a collection created to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Works Asphalt Cigar (1995) Happyland (2002) Drift (2005) (winner of the Trillium Book Award) Revolver (2008) (shortlisted for the 2009 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize)