BpNichol explained

bpNichol
Birth Date:30 September 1944
Birth Place:Vancouver
Death Place:Toronto
Language:English
Nationality:Canadian
Genre:Poetry
Movement:Concrete poetry

The Four Horsemen
Notableworks:The Martyrology
Awards:Governor General's Award for poetry

Barrie Phillip Nichol (30 September 1944  - 25 September 1988), known as bpNichol, was a Canadian poet, writer, sound poet, editor, creative writing teacher at York University in Toronto and grOnk/Ganglia Press publisher. His body of work encompasses poetry, children's books, television scripts,[1] novels, short fiction, computer texts, and sound poetry. His love of language and writing, evident in his many accomplishments, continues to be carried forward by many.[2] [3] [4] [5]

Work

Nichol was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Though his early writing consisted of fiction and lyrical poems, he first received international recognition in the 1960s for concrete poetry. The first major publications included Journeying & the returns (1967),[6] a purple box containing visual & lyrical poems and Konfessions of an Elizabethan Fan Dancer (1969)[7] a book of concrete poetry. He won the 1970 Governor General's Award[8] for poetry with four publications: the prose booklet The True Eventual Story of Billy the Kid[9] a collection of lyrical poems, Beach Head,[10] the boxed concrete sequence, Still Water and The Cosmic Chef,[11] a boxed anthology of concrete and visual poetry.

His best known work, The Martyrology (1972–1992)[12] is an open-ended, lifelong poem that investigates language. The 'saints' are drawn from 'st' words (storm becomes St. Orm) and their spiritual quest provides a springboard from which linguistic issues of textuality, reading and writing are explored.

Nichol frequently collaborated with other artists. The work of the sound poetry group, The Four Horsemen (Nichol, Rafael Barreto-Rivera,[13] Paul Dutton and Steve McCaffery) has been documented in Volcano Theatre's[14] stage performances of The Four Horsemen Project (Dora Mavor Moore Award 2007 & 2015). He collaborated with Steve McCaffrey to form The Toronto Research Group (TRG),[15] with Barbara Caruso,[16] [17] visual artist, with R. Murray Schafer,[18] [19] Howard Gerhard[20] and John Beckwith,[21] composers.

Nichol's zest for publishing other writers was reflected in founding Ganglia Press[22] with David Aylward in 1964 and grOnk in 1967 with Aylward, Rob Hindley-Smith and David UU (David W. Harris). He was a volunteer editor at Coach House Books from 1975 to his death. In 1978, he was one of the collective that established Underwhich Editions[23] which edited, designed, published and distributed the works of worthy writers. During the 1970s and 80s, he was a contributing editor of Open Letter,[24] a literary magazine.

Nichol also had a large presence on screens of various sizes. In the mid-1980s, he became a writer for the children's television show, Fraggle Rock, created by Jim Henson. Soon, scriptwriting for other children's television shows[1] followed: The Raccoons, Under the Umbrella Tree, Care Bears and Babar. Several films include bp and his work, starting with Michael Ondaatje's short film, Sons of Captain Poetry;[25] Ron Mann's Poetry in Motion[26] followed by ,[27] directed by Brian Nash,[28] and more recently, Justin Stephenson's award-winning film, The Complete Works.[29] He died in Toronto, Ontario, five days shy of his 44th birthday. Since his death, there has been an upsurge of interest in First Screenings,[30] Nichol's 1984 computer poem (updated by Jim Andrews and his team[31]) which has been part of electronic exhibitions from Mexico to Oakville.

Therafields

Barrie Nichol / bpNichol was also a central figure in the psychoanalytic community Therafields, from the early 1960s into the early 1980s, with his formal resignation as vice-president of the organization in 1982.[32] Nichol dedicates The Martyrology to the founder, Lea Hindley-Smith, “for lea / without whose act of friendship / quite literally none of this would have been written’ (14) and the work makes many references to Therafields, Lea, the Annex, and Mono Mills, where the organization owned multiple properties, and some named individuals. Nichol “underwent personal therapy” in 1963” with Lea, and he is credited with stating, ”In my case, I think therapy literally saved my life” (Scobie 18).[33]

Commemoration

The bpNichol Chapbook Award,[34] a prize for poetry publications between 10 and 48 pages, was established in 1986 by Phoenix Community Works Foundation. This annual award for excellence in Canadian Poetry in English is now administered by Meet the Presses collective.

A street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is named in his honour. bpNichol Lane is located near Huron and Sussex Streets beside Coach House Books. It features an eight-line poem by Nichol carved into the pavement: "A / LAKE / A / LANE / A / LINE / A / LONE".[35]

Bibliography

Poetry

Booklets

Prose

Television credits

Babar (TV series) (Nelvana Studios, 1986–1988)

Critical studies and reviews of Nichol's work

Rational geomancy

Related books

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: B.P. Nichol. IMDb. 21 October 2017.
  2. Book: Barbour. Douglas. bp-nichol-and-his-works. 1992. ECW Press. Toronto. 9781550220667 .
  3. Book: Miki. Roy. meanwhile: the critical writings of bpNichol. 2002. Talonbooks . Vancouver. 9780889224476 .
  4. Book: Bowering. George. An H in the Heart: A Reader . 1994. McClelland & Stewart . 9780771068140.
  5. Book: Davey. Frank. Aka Bpnichol: A Preliminary Biography. 2012. ECW Press. Toronto. 9781770902602. en.
  6. Web site: Journeying & the Returns. Bpnichol.ca. 21 October 2017.
  7. Book: Nichol. bp. Konfessions of an Elizabethan Fan Dancer. 1969. Coach House Books. Toronto. 9781552451373 .
  8. Web site: bpNichol . The Canadian Encyclopedia . 2016-11-27 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160912181725/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bp-nichol/ . 2016-09-12 .
  9. Web site: THE TRUE EVENTUAL STORY OF BILLY THE KID. 12 April 2015. Thecompleteworks.ca. 21 October 2017.
  10. Book: NICHOL, bp. Beach Head: Transitions 66 & 67.. 21 October 1970. Sacramento: Runcible Spoon. 21 October 2017. Amazon.
  11. Web site: Ground States : The Visual Contexts of bpNichol. https://web.archive.org/web/20090509034303/http://www.angelhousepress.com/essays/Gil%20McElroy%20-%20Nichol%20essay.pdf . 2009-05-09 . live. Angelhousepress.com. 21 October 2017.
  12. Web site: Search.
  13. Web site: The conjured ones : a collection of poems /. Worldcat.org. 21 October 2017.
  14. Web site: The Four Horsemen Project. Volcano.ca. 21 October 2017.
  15. Book: Jaeger . Peter. ABC of Reading TRG . 1997. Talon Books . Toronto. 9780889224230 .
  16. Web site: Discovering the art of Barbara Caruso. Paris Star. 21 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171022085054/http://www.parisstaronline.com/2012/09/25/discovering-the-art-of-barbara-caruso. 22 October 2017. dead.
  17. Web site: Weed/Flower Press Collection - Special Collections - The University Library - The University of Sheffield. University of. Sheffield. Sheffield.ac.uk. 30 September 2016. 21 October 2017.
  18. Web site: Arcana Books. Patria.org. 21 October 2017.
  19. Web site: R. Murray Schafer . The Canadian Encyclopedia . 2016-11-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161127215550/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/r-murray-schafer-emc/ . 2016-11-27 .
  20. Book: Nichol, B. P.. Ad Sanctos: A Choral Performance Work. 21 October 1993. Coach House Books. 21 October 2017. Google Books. 9780889104549.
  21. Web site: John Beckwith . The Canadian Encyclopedia . 2016-11-26 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073037/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/john-beckwith-emc/ . 2016-03-04 .
  22. Web site: Publisher: Ganglia Press . Open Library. 21 October 2017.
  23. Web site: One Zero Zero Virtual Library. Ccca.concordia.ca. 21 October 2017.
  24. Web site: Open Letter - History and Mandate. publish.uwo.ca.
  25. Web site: UbuWeb Film & Video: Michael Ondaatje - The Sons of Captain Poetry (1970). Ubu.com. 21 October 2017.
  26. Web site: The Four Horsemen's emotional poetry. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/843O0bTVKHQ. 2021-12-11 . live. 21 November 2009. 21 October 2017. YouTube.
  27. Web site: Moving Images Distribution: bp (pushing the boundaries). Movingimages.ca. 21 October 2017.
  28. Web site: Brian Nash | CFMDC.org . 2016-11-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20161127152208/http://www.cfmdc.org/user/8452 . 2016-11-27 .
  29. Web site: The Complete Works. The Complete Works. 21 October 2017.
  30. Web site: First Screening by bp Nichol. Vispo.com. 21 October 2017.
  31. Web site: Jim Andrews on bpNichol's First Screening. Vispo.com. 21 October 2017.
  32. Book: Goodbrand, Grant . Therafields : the Rise and Fall of Lea Hindley-Smith's Psychoanalytic Commune. . 2010 . ECW Press . 978-1-55490-976-6 . Chicago . 781370111.
  33. Book: Scobie, Stephen . BpNichol : what history teaches . 1984 . Talonbooks . 0-88922-220-7 . Vancouver . 12238187.
  34. Web site: bpNichol Chapbook Award. 9 January 2012. Meetthepress.wordpress.com. 21 October 2017.
  35. Web site: bnNichol Ln. Google Maps. 30 September 2016.

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