A poet and the editor of the literary magazine The Malahat Review is Memorial’s writer-in-residence for fall 2015.

A resident of Victoria, B.C., John Barton visited St. John’s briefly on two previous occasions but is looking forward to experiencing a strong sense of place during his four-month stay.

“I live on the opposite coast in a very different kind of city, the only one in Canada with a quasi-Mediterranean climate,” said Mr. Barton, who has previously been writer-in-residence at the Saskatoon Public Library and at the University of New Brunswick. “I relish the opportunity to immerse myself in the contrast.”

 He says he thinks of himself as an inspiration coach and enjoys mentoring writers one-on one. He says often the people who come to see a writer-in-residence are at the beginnings of their vocation or are just discovering whether they have one.

“Working with them reminds me of what motivates people ― what motivated me ― to start writing, unimpaired by the careerist aspirations that can sometimes cloud a writer’s ambitions for his or her work once the writerly self becomes more firmly established.”

English professor and chair of the writer-in-residence search committee Dr. Robert Finley says he is looking forward to Mr. Barton’s residency.

“John brings with him such a depth of experience not only as an important Canadian poet but as a mentor across several genres and as the editor of one of the country’s foremost literary journals,” he said. “His contribution to our writing program at Memorial and to the wider literary community in the province is going to be considerable. We’re tremendously grateful to the Faculty of Arts and to the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of English in St. John’s and at Grenfell, and the Office of Public Engagement for making this residency possible.”

While at Memorial Mr. Barton will conduct several workshops, including one on submitting to literary magazines, meet with those in the Memorial and greater community regarding their writing and host a monthly evening discussion for LGBTQ writers.

Mr. Barton will also spend time working on his current writing project Contrapposto. The book features three protagonists who were part of the queer community in New York City in the decades before the Stonewall Riots (events which marked the beginning of gay liberation): Lincoln Kirstein, co-founder of the New York City Ballet with George Balanchine, painter Paul Cadmus and photographer George Platt Lynes.

“Each of them approached the queer body through a different aesthetic and set of experiences, and I am interested in sketching out the composite figure that emerges as their voices are brought together,” he said.

Mr. Barton’s first official reading will be held at the Suncor Energy Hall, School of Music, on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m.  All are welcome to attend.

Interested in scheduling an appointment with Mr. Barton? Contact the Department of English at english@mun.ca for his office hours.