Lisa Robertson

Lisa Robertson (Canadian, b. 1961) is a poet and essayist from Toronto who currently lives and works in France. She has published more than twenty-five books, as well as numerous essays and reviews, and she has been a visiting poet, lecturer and artist-in-residence at various institutions in the arts and academe. Robertson’s poetry is known for its subversive engagement with the classical traditions of Western poetry and philosophy. Her subject matter is varied, framing poetic genres and philosophy with concepts of gender and nation, nature and womanhood and utopian impulses, as well as art, architecture, food and astrology. In the mid-1980s, Robertson studied at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, and became involved with the Kootenay School of Writing, a Vancouver-based writing collective, before running Proprioception Books (1988–94). Robertson has taught at the University of California, San Diego; Capilano College, North Vancouver; Dartington College of Art; the California College of the Arts, Oakland; and the University of Cambridge. She holds numerous awards and honours, including the C.D. Wright Award in Poetry from the Foundation for Creative Arts in New York (2018); an honorary doctorate of letters from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver (2017); the ReLit Award for Poetry for Magenta Soul Whip (Coach House, 2009) and The Weather (New Star, 2001); the PIP Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Poetry in English (2005); Judith E. Wilson Visiting Fellowship in Poetry from Cambridge University (1999); and shortlist for the Governor General’s Award for Poetry (1998) for Debbie: An Epic (New Star, 1997). Robertson continues to be one of Canada’s most celebrated and internationally recognized poets.