Alice Burdick
Biography
Alice Burdick - photo courtesy of Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
Alice Burdick was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, but has lived in Espanola, Vancouver, and on the Sechelt Peninsula before settling down in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, where she currently resides with her husband and two children. Burdick credits her love and discovery of creative writing to when she attended high school and was given various extra-curricular and advanced classes to push her literary skills.
Burdick’s published career began when she partnered with Eternal Network Press in 1990. While there, Burdick published her first chapbooks, Signs Like This (1994) and Fun Venue (1994), and her first novel, Voice of Interpreter (1992). Alice was dedicated and focused to the process of making her books and even painted covers for and saddle-stitched her first drafts. Burdick later became an assistant coordinator for the Toronto Small Press Fair in 1992 where she stayed until 1995.
Burdick’s newest published work includes Holler (Mansfield Press, 2012) and two collaborative poems published in Days in Vaudeville by Stuart Ross (Mansfield Press, 2013). She has completed her poetry collection Book of Short Sentences (Mansfield Press) which released in April 2016.
Additional works by Burdick include; The Human About Us (BookThug, 2002), a Time, My Lump in the Bed: Love Poems for George W. Bush (Proper Tales, 2004), Simple Master (Pedlar Press, 2002), and Flutter (Mansfield Press, 2008). Her poems have also appeared in anthologies such as Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry, Pissing Ice: An Anthology of ‘New’ Canadian Poets and Rogue Stimulus: The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology for a Prorogued Parliament, and in literary magazines including Hava LeHaba (Tel Aviv, Israel), Event Magazine, Canadian Poetries, Two Serious Ladies (US), Dig, What!magazine, subTerrain, fhole, This Magazine, and Who Torched Rancho Diablo?.
Burdick’s published career began when she partnered with Eternal Network Press in 1990. While there, Burdick published her first chapbooks, Signs Like This (1994) and Fun Venue (1994), and her first novel, Voice of Interpreter (1992). Alice was dedicated and focused to the process of making her books and even painted covers for and saddle-stitched her first drafts. Burdick later became an assistant coordinator for the Toronto Small Press Fair in 1992 where she stayed until 1995.
Burdick’s newest published work includes Holler (Mansfield Press, 2012) and two collaborative poems published in Days in Vaudeville by Stuart Ross (Mansfield Press, 2013). She has completed her poetry collection Book of Short Sentences (Mansfield Press) which released in April 2016.
Additional works by Burdick include; The Human About Us (BookThug, 2002), a Time, My Lump in the Bed: Love Poems for George W. Bush (Proper Tales, 2004), Simple Master (Pedlar Press, 2002), and Flutter (Mansfield Press, 2008). Her poems have also appeared in anthologies such as Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry, Pissing Ice: An Anthology of ‘New’ Canadian Poets and Rogue Stimulus: The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology for a Prorogued Parliament, and in literary magazines including Hava LeHaba (Tel Aviv, Israel), Event Magazine, Canadian Poetries, Two Serious Ladies (US), Dig, What!magazine, subTerrain, fhole, This Magazine, and Who Torched Rancho Diablo?.
Additional Information:
Author's Twitter
Interview with Poetry in Voice
Selection from Holler:
Kirby Poetry Launch
Author's Twitter
Interview with Poetry in Voice
Selection from Holler:
Kirby Poetry Launch
One long day,
it will be over. The day
will be gone, and I won’t know
it, because I will be gone
too. Do you ever see eyes
embossed on inner eyelids
when your own are closed -
mirrors into memory?
I figure I won’t know
the end, but still it frightens,
this kenning of oblivion,
glance at total absence.
Stupid in so many ways,
wise-guy with a fractal brain.
Published in “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. Canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013. Accessed 1 Feb. 2016. (Set to be published in Book of Short Sentences (Mansfield Press, April 2016).
Used with permission of the author.
it will be over. The day
will be gone, and I won’t know
it, because I will be gone
too. Do you ever see eyes
embossed on inner eyelids
when your own are closed -
mirrors into memory?
I figure I won’t know
the end, but still it frightens,
this kenning of oblivion,
glance at total absence.
Stupid in so many ways,
wise-guy with a fractal brain.
Published in “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. Canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013. Accessed 1 Feb. 2016. (Set to be published in Book of Short Sentences (Mansfield Press, April 2016).
Used with permission of the author.
Critical Analysis: Created Anxiety in "Eyeball in Oblivion"
Monica Grasse (ACPA Managing Editor, 2016) with Kate VanBuskirk
Alice Burdick creates a feeling of anxiety in “Eyeball in Oblivion” by using several images at once. Despite fragmented lines, which are direct causes of anxiety, the poem’s sonnet form works to bring the lines together to anchor them towards a powerful ideal, making readers reflect on the message that can only be understood by putting together each individual piece and which when viewed as a whole will actually reduce the perceived anxiety.
Burdick instills anxiety in the reader within the first line by not indicating the tense of her voice. For example, the line “One long day” could signal that she will begin to tell a story of the past or imagine a story for the future, either of which would properly convey her message, but whose uncertainty creates uneasiness (1). Although Burdick answers the question of position in time with “it will be over,” indicating that she is thinking to the future, she continues to balance the reader between past and present by constantly referring to past and present and questioning and reconsidering every move she makes (2). While the fragments create uneasiness throughout the poem and a perpetual desire to continue reading in order to find meaning, Burdick continues this phenomenon by weaving various literary techniques and images together to grab readers’ attention and question their level of comfort.
Anxiety is furthered in the poem by introducing an uncomfortable image for all readers: death. Not only does Burdick speak of being “gone” and everything being “over,” but she depicts death through the grotesque image of rolling eyelids and eyeballs, a movement often associated with madness (3, 2). Madness signals a type of disruption of the mind, which is what readers experience on a lesser level, but experience it nonetheless. Once readers are uncomfortable with this image, Burdick immediately re-introduces her displacement of time by questioning the purpose of memory. Memories are powerful emotions and remembrances for past experiences, but Burdick’s employment of them causes the reader to question what they are truly looking back upon. She questions if our eyes can serve as “mirrors into memory” or if they are merely a “glance of total absence” (8, 12). This question does not sit easily with readers as they are forced to confront their ideas of that past and their understanding of how that affects their present and future, all while dealing with Burdick’s unsettling imagery.
To further upset the reader, Burdick uses the last two lines of “Eye in Oblivion” to dramatically twist the poem’s meaning, making her point powerfully apparent to the reader. Despite the tension, uneasiness, and deep contemplation of death, Burdick uses colloquial language in the final lines to counter the significance she has placed on the poem’s theme: “Stupid in so many ways,/wise-guy with a fractal brain” (13-14). While Burdick set the poem as a piece of writing full of anxiety with unanswered lines, questions of the past mingled with the future, and an uneasiness about inevitable death, her final turn makes obvious the ridiculousness of over-contemplating life and being too preoccupied in what one does not know instead of simply living with purpose.
Works cited (for analysis):
Published in “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. Canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013. Accessed 1 Feb. 2016. (Set to be published in Book of Short Sentences (Mansfield Press, April 2016).
Alice Burdick creates a feeling of anxiety in “Eyeball in Oblivion” by using several images at once. Despite fragmented lines, which are direct causes of anxiety, the poem’s sonnet form works to bring the lines together to anchor them towards a powerful ideal, making readers reflect on the message that can only be understood by putting together each individual piece and which when viewed as a whole will actually reduce the perceived anxiety.
Burdick instills anxiety in the reader within the first line by not indicating the tense of her voice. For example, the line “One long day” could signal that she will begin to tell a story of the past or imagine a story for the future, either of which would properly convey her message, but whose uncertainty creates uneasiness (1). Although Burdick answers the question of position in time with “it will be over,” indicating that she is thinking to the future, she continues to balance the reader between past and present by constantly referring to past and present and questioning and reconsidering every move she makes (2). While the fragments create uneasiness throughout the poem and a perpetual desire to continue reading in order to find meaning, Burdick continues this phenomenon by weaving various literary techniques and images together to grab readers’ attention and question their level of comfort.
Anxiety is furthered in the poem by introducing an uncomfortable image for all readers: death. Not only does Burdick speak of being “gone” and everything being “over,” but she depicts death through the grotesque image of rolling eyelids and eyeballs, a movement often associated with madness (3, 2). Madness signals a type of disruption of the mind, which is what readers experience on a lesser level, but experience it nonetheless. Once readers are uncomfortable with this image, Burdick immediately re-introduces her displacement of time by questioning the purpose of memory. Memories are powerful emotions and remembrances for past experiences, but Burdick’s employment of them causes the reader to question what they are truly looking back upon. She questions if our eyes can serve as “mirrors into memory” or if they are merely a “glance of total absence” (8, 12). This question does not sit easily with readers as they are forced to confront their ideas of that past and their understanding of how that affects their present and future, all while dealing with Burdick’s unsettling imagery.
To further upset the reader, Burdick uses the last two lines of “Eye in Oblivion” to dramatically twist the poem’s meaning, making her point powerfully apparent to the reader. Despite the tension, uneasiness, and deep contemplation of death, Burdick uses colloquial language in the final lines to counter the significance she has placed on the poem’s theme: “Stupid in so many ways,/wise-guy with a fractal brain” (13-14). While Burdick set the poem as a piece of writing full of anxiety with unanswered lines, questions of the past mingled with the future, and an uneasiness about inevitable death, her final turn makes obvious the ridiculousness of over-contemplating life and being too preoccupied in what one does not know instead of simply living with purpose.
Works cited (for analysis):
Published in “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. Canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013. Accessed 1 Feb. 2016. (Set to be published in Book of Short Sentences (Mansfield Press, April 2016).
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Burdick, Alice. A Holiday for Molecules. Ottawa: above/ground press, 2019.
---. a Time. Toronto: Proper Tales Press, 1995.
---. Big Tomatoes. Toronto: PUSHYbroadsides, 1993.
---. Book of Short Sentences. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2016.
---. "Copy of Marage cer. (2.)" The Litter I See Project. thelitteriseeproject.com. 2 March 2018.
---. Covered. Winnipeg: Letters Press, 1994.
---. Deportment: The Poetry of Alice Burdick. Ed. Alessandro Porco. Waterloo: Wilfrird Laurier University Press, 2018.
---. Discord of Flags: Canadian Poets Write About The Persian Gulf War. Eds. Steven Heighton, Peter Ormshaw, and Michael Redhill. Toronto: self-published, 1992.
---. “Eyeball in Oblivion.” “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013.
---. Flutter. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2008.
---. "four." The Brooklyn Rail, brooklynrail.org. 5 June 2020.
---. Fun Venue. Vancouver: The Eternal Network, 1994.
---. “The Great Outdoors.” “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013.
---. The Human About Us. Toronto: BookThug, 2002.
---. Holler. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2012.
---. "Madman's Drum." Long Con Magazine, longconmag.com. 11 Feb. 2020.
---. “The meat leaves, slowly”. Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry. Ed. Jason Christie, Angela Rawlings, Derek Beaulieu. Toronto: Mercury Press, 2005. p. 22
---. My Lump in the Bed: Love Poems for George W. Bush. Toronto: Proper Tales Press, 2004.
---. Signs Like This. Vancouver: The Eternal Network, 1994.
---. Simple Master. St. John’s: Pedlar Press, 2002.
---. "Tough and rumble." The Miramichi Reader, miramichireader.ca. 3 May 2020.
---. Voice of Interpreter. Vancouver: The Eternal Network, 1993.
---. “Where are our tiger teeth?” Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry. Ed. Jason Christie, Angela Rawlings, Derek Beaulieu. Toronto: Mercury Press, 2005. p. 23
--- and Gary Barwin. Pleasure Bristles. Ottawa: above/ground press, 2018.
--- and Gary Barwin. Poils d'ivresse. Trans. Simon Brown. Aix-en-Provence: Éditions Vanloo, 2020.
“St. Marks Wildlife Refugee.” “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013.
Secondary Sources
“Alice Burdick.” Authors Aloud. authorsaloud.com. 2009.
“Alice Burdick” A Biography. Writers Federation of Nova Scotia, 2012.
Barret, Katherine J. “A Conversation with Alice Burdick.” Understory Magazine 2 (2014).
Bennet, Andrea. "A Medium-Size Critique of Short Sentences: Alice Burdick's Book of Short Sentences." Arc Poetry Magazine. arcpoetry.ca. 14 February 2018.
Christakos, Margaret. "On Alice Burdick's 'Winter Here.'" Arc Poetry Magazine, arcpoetry.ca, 24 May 2009.
Christie, Jason, Angela Rawlings, and Derek Beaulieu. Shift and Switch: New Canadian Poetry. St.Andrews: The Mercury Press, 2005.
Fiorentino, Jon Paul, and Jay Miller. Pissing Ice: An Anthology of 'New' Canadian Poets. Toronto:BookThug, 2004.
La Rocque, Lance. “A Review of Simple Master by Alice Burdick.” Quill & Quire, n.d. 25 Oct. 2015.
Ross, Stuart, and Stephen Brockwell. Rogue Stimulus: The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology For A Pro-Rogued Parliament. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2010.
Porco, Alex. “I’ll give it a go: An Interview with Alice Burdick.” Lemon Hound. Lemon Hound, 2013.
---. "This One Goes out to All the Humans." Open book Toronto. openbooktoronto.com. 29 May 2012.
Prikryl, Jana. “Simple Master by Alice Burdick.” Quill and Quire. Pedlar Press, 6 April 2002.
Burdick, Alice. A Holiday for Molecules. Ottawa: above/ground press, 2019.
---. a Time. Toronto: Proper Tales Press, 1995.
---. Big Tomatoes. Toronto: PUSHYbroadsides, 1993.
---. Book of Short Sentences. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2016.
---. "Copy of Marage cer. (2.)" The Litter I See Project. thelitteriseeproject.com. 2 March 2018.
---. Covered. Winnipeg: Letters Press, 1994.
---. Deportment: The Poetry of Alice Burdick. Ed. Alessandro Porco. Waterloo: Wilfrird Laurier University Press, 2018.
---. Discord of Flags: Canadian Poets Write About The Persian Gulf War. Eds. Steven Heighton, Peter Ormshaw, and Michael Redhill. Toronto: self-published, 1992.
---. “Eyeball in Oblivion.” “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013.
---. Flutter. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2008.
---. "four." The Brooklyn Rail, brooklynrail.org. 5 June 2020.
---. Fun Venue. Vancouver: The Eternal Network, 1994.
---. “The Great Outdoors.” “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013.
---. The Human About Us. Toronto: BookThug, 2002.
---. Holler. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2012.
---. "Madman's Drum." Long Con Magazine, longconmag.com. 11 Feb. 2020.
---. “The meat leaves, slowly”. Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry. Ed. Jason Christie, Angela Rawlings, Derek Beaulieu. Toronto: Mercury Press, 2005. p. 22
---. My Lump in the Bed: Love Poems for George W. Bush. Toronto: Proper Tales Press, 2004.
---. Signs Like This. Vancouver: The Eternal Network, 1994.
---. Simple Master. St. John’s: Pedlar Press, 2002.
---. "Tough and rumble." The Miramichi Reader, miramichireader.ca. 3 May 2020.
---. Voice of Interpreter. Vancouver: The Eternal Network, 1993.
---. “Where are our tiger teeth?” Shift & Switch: New Canadian Poetry. Ed. Jason Christie, Angela Rawlings, Derek Beaulieu. Toronto: Mercury Press, 2005. p. 23
--- and Gary Barwin. Pleasure Bristles. Ottawa: above/ground press, 2018.
--- and Gary Barwin. Poils d'ivresse. Trans. Simon Brown. Aix-en-Provence: Éditions Vanloo, 2020.
“St. Marks Wildlife Refugee.” “Canadian Poetries.” Eds. Shawna Lemay and Kimmy Beach. canadianpoetries.com. 9 April 2013.
Secondary Sources
“Alice Burdick.” Authors Aloud. authorsaloud.com. 2009.
“Alice Burdick” A Biography. Writers Federation of Nova Scotia, 2012.
Barret, Katherine J. “A Conversation with Alice Burdick.” Understory Magazine 2 (2014).
Bennet, Andrea. "A Medium-Size Critique of Short Sentences: Alice Burdick's Book of Short Sentences." Arc Poetry Magazine. arcpoetry.ca. 14 February 2018.
Christakos, Margaret. "On Alice Burdick's 'Winter Here.'" Arc Poetry Magazine, arcpoetry.ca, 24 May 2009.
Christie, Jason, Angela Rawlings, and Derek Beaulieu. Shift and Switch: New Canadian Poetry. St.Andrews: The Mercury Press, 2005.
Fiorentino, Jon Paul, and Jay Miller. Pissing Ice: An Anthology of 'New' Canadian Poets. Toronto:BookThug, 2004.
La Rocque, Lance. “A Review of Simple Master by Alice Burdick.” Quill & Quire, n.d. 25 Oct. 2015.
Ross, Stuart, and Stephen Brockwell. Rogue Stimulus: The Stephen Harper Holiday Anthology For A Pro-Rogued Parliament. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2010.
Porco, Alex. “I’ll give it a go: An Interview with Alice Burdick.” Lemon Hound. Lemon Hound, 2013.
---. "This One Goes out to All the Humans." Open book Toronto. openbooktoronto.com. 29 May 2012.
Prikryl, Jana. “Simple Master by Alice Burdick.” Quill and Quire. Pedlar Press, 6 April 2002.
