BIO FOR ALLAN BRIESMASTER

Allan is a poet, freelance editor, mentor and tutor, reviewer, micro publisher, consultant, and book packager, specializing in poetry and non-fiction. He lives in Thornhill, Ontario (just north of Toronto), with his wife Holly, a visual artist. Three recent books, one from Hidden Brook Press and two from Lyricalmyrical, have developed as a creative collaboration with Holly, through which her collages and pen-and-ink drawings engage in dialogues with his poems. His latest full collection of poetry is The Other Seasons, also from Hidden Brook Press (May, 2006).

Born in Massachusetts, Allan has resided in the Toronto area since 1969. He has a doctorate in English from the University of Toronto. It was only after choosing to leave academia in 1980 that he began to write poetry in earnest. He led Phoenix, Toronto's longest-running poetry workshop, in 1986-90, and was one of the chief organizers of the weekly Art Bar Poetry Reading Series from its beginnings in 1991 until 2002: playing a central role as it grew into the largest series of its kind in Canada.

As a founding member of the watershedBooks poetry publishing co-op, which produced 15 titles in 1998-2000, Allan gained invaluable experience as an editor. Since 2000, he has been the main literary editor for Seraphim Editions: instrumental in the production of two dozen books in various genres. He started his own micro press, Aeolus House, in 2003. Two years later, after having worked for many years as a Project Leader in the I.T. field, he left the “9-to-5” to pursue full-time what he had long been doing evenings and weekends.

While continuing his connection with Seraphim Editions, in Hamilton, Allan has recently established ties as an editor with the London ON-based Pendas Productions, as well as strengthening his relationship with Hidden Brook Press, based in Brighton. Over the past few years he has worked with authors whose books were produced, and are forthcoming, from each of these presses, and others; and while his main geographical focus remains southern Ontario, he has also worked with authors living in such places as Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver.

The author of eight books of poetry, Allan has frequently given readings throughout his home Province over the past 20 years, and more recently in venues farther afield, from Halifax to Victoria: including libraries, schools, and universities. At the same time, he has continuously promoted and encouraged fellow writers, especially at the “grass roots,” and has organized and emceed numerous launches and readings for them.

In January 2006, Allan and his friends John Calabro, Beatriz Hausner, and Luciano Iacobelli started a new monthly literary reading series, Toronto WordStage.

Allan is an active member of The League of Canadian Poets (serving as Treasurer in 2004-06 and helping organize the 2005 AGM), The Ontario Poetry Society, and The Renaissance Conspiracy poetry group in Toronto. Other activities in recent years include sitting on awards and grants committees, and judging poetry contests. He ran the Shaunt Basmajian Chapbook Award from 1998 to 2004 for the Canadian Poetry Association, and edited each of the seven Award-winning chapbooks.

Currently, Allan is completing a new full-length collection of poetry. In the Fall of 2006 he will publish the first bound book under the Aeolus House imprint: Renaissance Reloaded, an anthology of work by 13 poets in the Renaissance Conspiracy group.

Copyright Aeolus House 2005