Derek Beaulieu is the author/editor of over twenty-five collections of poetry, prose, and criticism. His most recent volume of fiction, Silence: Lectures and Writings, was published by Sweden’s Timglaset Editions. His most recent volume of poetry, Surface Tension, was published by Toronto’s Coach House Books. Beaulieu has received multiple local and national awards for his teaching and dedication to students, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for this dedication to Albertan literature and is the only graduate from the University of Calgary’s Department of English to receive the Faculty of Arts ‘Celebrated Alumni Award.’ He holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Roehampton University, has served as Poet Laureate of both Calgary and Banff and is the Director of Literary Arts at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
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Which ’hood are you in?
I live halfway up Sleeping Buffalo Mountain (formerly Tunnel Mountain) in Banff, the largest town in any of Canada’s national parks. Banff National Park is the world’s oldest national park, and the largest in Canada, a haven.
What do you do?
Well, I do a lot of things – in addition to being a partner and a dad, I also have a writing practice (mostly focussing on visual and experimental poetics, conceptual fiction, and literary criticism), and spend my days working as Director of Literary Arts at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Here I work visioning, budgeting, and constructing literary arts residencies for Albertan, Canadian and international writers; from poetry and fiction to journalism, translation, memoir, graphic novels and more.
What are you currently working on?
I have recently completed editing Some Lines of Poetry from the notebooks of BP Nichol with my dear colleague Gregory Betts. The book celebrates what would have been Nichol’s 80th birthday (he passed away in 1988) with 80 pages of excerpts from his 1980s notebooks — it’s a treasure trove of inspiration and poetic process.
Where can we find your work?
You can visit my website, and check the latest volumes of published work:
SILENCE: LECTURES AND WRITINGS and SURFACE TENSION
Also, I’m easily found in MacLab at Banff Centre; come by and say hello.
