Allan Cooper
Biography
Allan Cooper - photo courtesy of gaspereaupress.com
Allan Cooper is a Canadian poet and musician born in Moncton, New Brunswick in 1954.
Cooper found an interest in writing while in secondary school, and after graduating from Moncton High School, continued to pursue his passion by studying English at Mount Allison University.
Cooper’s first book of poetry, Blood-Lines, was published by Fiddlehead Poetry Books in 1979. In the past thirty years, he has published an additional twelve poetry collections, including a reprise of poems from Blood-Lines which match newer poems in The Alma Elgies (Gaspereau Press, 2007). Cooper’s poetry work is extensive, including titles such as Bending the Branch (Percheron Press, 1983), Poems Released on a Nuclear Wind (Pottersfield Press, 1987), The Pearl Inside the Body (Pierian Press, 1991), Heaven of Small Moments (Broken Jaw Press, 1998), and Gabriel’s Wing (Gaspereau Press, 2004).
In 1982, Cooper took over the publication of the poetry magazine Germination from his friend and fellow poet, Harry Thurston. He then went on to publish fifteen issues of the magazine, which featured the work of new and established Canadian and American poets. Cooper also founded the poetry publishing house Owl's Head Press in 1986, which ran out of his home.
Cooper lives in Alma, New Brunswick with his wife, Laurie, where he continues to write and make music.
Biography written by Tyler Lifford (Advanced Poetry Workshop).
Cooper found an interest in writing while in secondary school, and after graduating from Moncton High School, continued to pursue his passion by studying English at Mount Allison University.
Cooper’s first book of poetry, Blood-Lines, was published by Fiddlehead Poetry Books in 1979. In the past thirty years, he has published an additional twelve poetry collections, including a reprise of poems from Blood-Lines which match newer poems in The Alma Elgies (Gaspereau Press, 2007). Cooper’s poetry work is extensive, including titles such as Bending the Branch (Percheron Press, 1983), Poems Released on a Nuclear Wind (Pottersfield Press, 1987), The Pearl Inside the Body (Pierian Press, 1991), Heaven of Small Moments (Broken Jaw Press, 1998), and Gabriel’s Wing (Gaspereau Press, 2004).
In 1982, Cooper took over the publication of the poetry magazine Germination from his friend and fellow poet, Harry Thurston. He then went on to publish fifteen issues of the magazine, which featured the work of new and established Canadian and American poets. Cooper also founded the poetry publishing house Owl's Head Press in 1986, which ran out of his home.
Cooper lives in Alma, New Brunswick with his wife, Laurie, where he continues to write and make music.
Biography written by Tyler Lifford (Advanced Poetry Workshop).
In the tall house of summer
that stood out
like a leaf against the sky
I listened and dreamed.
And the small, furry darkness
of a field mouse
broke the calm
and mingled with the memory
of a young boy
fishing on Cleveland Brook.
I left,
filled with the past;
I walked the front road
to the cemetery
where the pale stones
spoke of quick deaths by drowning,
young men caught in timber falls,
dying in the arms of their wives.
Their names
were my own:
McKinley, Alcorn,
Stanton, Cooper –
all the blood-lines
gathered in the pale white of the stones,
in the stillness of the air,
and in a young boy
pulling a trout from the water,
his faced tanned
in the summer sunlight.
Copyright Allan Cooper 2007
Published in The Alma Elegies (Gaspereau Press, 2007).
Used with permission of the author.
that stood out
like a leaf against the sky
I listened and dreamed.
And the small, furry darkness
of a field mouse
broke the calm
and mingled with the memory
of a young boy
fishing on Cleveland Brook.
I left,
filled with the past;
I walked the front road
to the cemetery
where the pale stones
spoke of quick deaths by drowning,
young men caught in timber falls,
dying in the arms of their wives.
Their names
were my own:
McKinley, Alcorn,
Stanton, Cooper –
all the blood-lines
gathered in the pale white of the stones,
in the stillness of the air,
and in a young boy
pulling a trout from the water,
his faced tanned
in the summer sunlight.
Copyright Allan Cooper 2007
Published in The Alma Elegies (Gaspereau Press, 2007).
Used with permission of the author.
All the beautiful presences are gone,
all the old men, Maurice
with his bad knees, and still he dug graves
and raked topsoil with me all afternoon, and told stories
that brought the past alive like a lamp
that lit the entire room.
All the old voices
have gone out now, so far that we
can no longer fathom those kinds of distances,
all we can do is hold them,
wrap them in this dark cloak of human love,
name them: Reta, Cedric, Hattie, David, John.
Copyright Allan Cooper 2007
Published in The Alma Elegies (Gaspereau Press, 2007).
Used with permission of the author.
all the old men, Maurice
with his bad knees, and still he dug graves
and raked topsoil with me all afternoon, and told stories
that brought the past alive like a lamp
that lit the entire room.
All the old voices
have gone out now, so far that we
can no longer fathom those kinds of distances,
all we can do is hold them,
wrap them in this dark cloak of human love,
name them: Reta, Cedric, Hattie, David, John.
Copyright Allan Cooper 2007
Published in The Alma Elegies (Gaspereau Press, 2007).
Used with permission of the author.
Critical Analysis: Listening to the Voices of the Past
Monica Grasse (ACPA Managing Editor, 2016).
Gary Dunfield, editor at Gaspereau Press, describes Allan Cooper’s The Alma Elegies by the author’s pairing of poems from Blood-lines with new ones:
A two-part volume of poetry, Allan Cooper’s The Alma Elegies, pairs the poems from his very first book with new poems written in the same place. The first half of the book was written in the autumn of 1978, when Cooper was living alone in his great-uncle’s house. These poems were published the following year in Blood-lines. Twenty-five years later, having raised a family in the same house, Cooper has written a series of reflections or ‘answering poems’ about occupying that space and about the coming of winter again.
Cooper’s poems “Blood-lines” and “Old Voices” work together in Dunfield’s consideration of The Alma Elegies by looking at the voices present in the surroundings of Cooper’s home and those of the past that live only in memories and the hearts of the present. The resituating of these voices works through the structure and imagery of the poems to create an echo of a voice that was once prominent around Cooper’s homestead.
“Blood-lines” appears first in the collection of poems and is the original of the two considered. It is a 29-line free verse poem, compared to the poem’s echo, “Old Voices,” which has a 12-line structure. The difference in length between the two reflects the change and meaning of the voices, which Cooper has a hard time finding after years gone by. Cooper’s difficulty in finding his memories through the voices is evident in the fewer words of the second poem. “Old Voices”’s is not organized into stanzas like “Blood-lines,” therefore creating a sense of lethargy about telling the memories, or a tired sadness for the past. In contrast, “Blood-lines”’s divided, 4-line stanzas present thoughts which are purposeful and specific to explaining the meaning behind the objects surrounding Cooper’s thoughts and physical home.
The imagery in “Blood-lines” evokes a sense of comfort for the past and those gone by. The poem gives personality to the imagery and objects that make up Cooper’s home, such as the “furry darkness/of a field mouse,” the “tall house of summer,” and the “pale stones” (“Blood-lines,” 5-6, 1, 15). The familiarity becomes almost subliminal when Cooper personifies these objects, explaining how the
pale stones
spoke of quick deaths by drowning,
young men caught in timber falls,
dying in the arms of their wives (15-18).
The objects around Cooper’s house become more than mere remembrances of home; they work to tell stories, evoking memories of an enjoyed, yet now hurtful, past. However, no matter the meaning of the memories, Cooper cherishes the past because “their names/were [his] own” (19-20). The stories of death that the “pale stones” tell also contain the “blood-lines” of his family, a significance that can never be taken away, no matter the contrasting meaning of their presence (15, 23).
As an “answering poem[-]” to “Blood-lines,” “Old Voices” picks up some of the imagery of Cooper’s original work, but also highly contrasts it in significance. In the first poem, Cooper appreciates the voices of the past for their influence on his future; however, the second evokes different memories, because the “beautiful presences are gone” (“Old Voices,” 1). Despite the nostalgia of the poem, Cooper gives personality to the people he knew, much like he did the objects of “Old Voices.” Readers meet a variety of “old men,” such as “Maurice/with his bad knees” and “Reta, Cedric, Hattie, David, John” (2-3, 12). Similar to the earlier objects, the men of the poem allow Cooper to vividly remember his past. However, he counters his joyful memories by leaving them altogether in the past:
All the old voices
have gone out now, so far that we
can no longer fathom those kind of distances,
all we can do is hold them,
wrap them in this dark cloak of human love,
name them: Reta, Cedric, Hattie, David, John (7-12).
Despite the vivid memories of the men in his neighborhood, Cooper feels a distance with the past that no longer allows him the immediate remembrance of his “blood-lines” (“Blood-lines,” 23).
Cooper’s two poems work together to create a vivid memory of the past while contrasting the significance and prominence of that memory. Depending on the imagery used to describe and distance himself from the past, Cooper questions the purpose of the past and where we fit into it as individuals who once dwelt there, but who have moved into the present.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Cooper, Allen. “Blood-lines.” The Alma Elegies. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2007. 9-10.
---. “Old Voices.” The Alma Elegies. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2007. 34.
Dunfield, Gary. Back Blurb. The Alma Elegies. By Allan Cooper. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2007.
Gary Dunfield, editor at Gaspereau Press, describes Allan Cooper’s The Alma Elegies by the author’s pairing of poems from Blood-lines with new ones:
A two-part volume of poetry, Allan Cooper’s The Alma Elegies, pairs the poems from his very first book with new poems written in the same place. The first half of the book was written in the autumn of 1978, when Cooper was living alone in his great-uncle’s house. These poems were published the following year in Blood-lines. Twenty-five years later, having raised a family in the same house, Cooper has written a series of reflections or ‘answering poems’ about occupying that space and about the coming of winter again.
Cooper’s poems “Blood-lines” and “Old Voices” work together in Dunfield’s consideration of The Alma Elegies by looking at the voices present in the surroundings of Cooper’s home and those of the past that live only in memories and the hearts of the present. The resituating of these voices works through the structure and imagery of the poems to create an echo of a voice that was once prominent around Cooper’s homestead.
“Blood-lines” appears first in the collection of poems and is the original of the two considered. It is a 29-line free verse poem, compared to the poem’s echo, “Old Voices,” which has a 12-line structure. The difference in length between the two reflects the change and meaning of the voices, which Cooper has a hard time finding after years gone by. Cooper’s difficulty in finding his memories through the voices is evident in the fewer words of the second poem. “Old Voices”’s is not organized into stanzas like “Blood-lines,” therefore creating a sense of lethargy about telling the memories, or a tired sadness for the past. In contrast, “Blood-lines”’s divided, 4-line stanzas present thoughts which are purposeful and specific to explaining the meaning behind the objects surrounding Cooper’s thoughts and physical home.
The imagery in “Blood-lines” evokes a sense of comfort for the past and those gone by. The poem gives personality to the imagery and objects that make up Cooper’s home, such as the “furry darkness/of a field mouse,” the “tall house of summer,” and the “pale stones” (“Blood-lines,” 5-6, 1, 15). The familiarity becomes almost subliminal when Cooper personifies these objects, explaining how the
pale stones
spoke of quick deaths by drowning,
young men caught in timber falls,
dying in the arms of their wives (15-18).
The objects around Cooper’s house become more than mere remembrances of home; they work to tell stories, evoking memories of an enjoyed, yet now hurtful, past. However, no matter the meaning of the memories, Cooper cherishes the past because “their names/were [his] own” (19-20). The stories of death that the “pale stones” tell also contain the “blood-lines” of his family, a significance that can never be taken away, no matter the contrasting meaning of their presence (15, 23).
As an “answering poem[-]” to “Blood-lines,” “Old Voices” picks up some of the imagery of Cooper’s original work, but also highly contrasts it in significance. In the first poem, Cooper appreciates the voices of the past for their influence on his future; however, the second evokes different memories, because the “beautiful presences are gone” (“Old Voices,” 1). Despite the nostalgia of the poem, Cooper gives personality to the people he knew, much like he did the objects of “Old Voices.” Readers meet a variety of “old men,” such as “Maurice/with his bad knees” and “Reta, Cedric, Hattie, David, John” (2-3, 12). Similar to the earlier objects, the men of the poem allow Cooper to vividly remember his past. However, he counters his joyful memories by leaving them altogether in the past:
All the old voices
have gone out now, so far that we
can no longer fathom those kind of distances,
all we can do is hold them,
wrap them in this dark cloak of human love,
name them: Reta, Cedric, Hattie, David, John (7-12).
Despite the vivid memories of the men in his neighborhood, Cooper feels a distance with the past that no longer allows him the immediate remembrance of his “blood-lines” (“Blood-lines,” 23).
Cooper’s two poems work together to create a vivid memory of the past while contrasting the significance and prominence of that memory. Depending on the imagery used to describe and distance himself from the past, Cooper questions the purpose of the past and where we fit into it as individuals who once dwelt there, but who have moved into the present.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Cooper, Allen. “Blood-lines.” The Alma Elegies. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2007. 9-10.
---. “Old Voices.” The Alma Elegies. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2007. 34.
Dunfield, Gary. Back Blurb. The Alma Elegies. By Allan Cooper. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2007.
Bibliography
Primary Sources: Poetry
Cooper, Allan. Alma Elegies. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2007.
---. Bending The Branch: Twenty-six Poems. Sackville: Percheron Press, 1983.
---. Blood-Lines. Fredericton: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1979.
---. The Deer is Thirsty for the Mountain Stream: Version from the Chinese, Japanese, and the Book of Psalms. Alma: Owl’s Head Press, 1992.
---. Everything We've Loved Comes Back to Find Us. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 2017.
---. Gabriel’s Wing. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2004.
---. Heaven of Small Moments. Fredericton: Broken Jaw Press, 1998.
---. Hidden River Poems. Fredericton: Fiddlehead Press, 1982.
---. Jottings Toward the Country of the Light: 10 Ghazals. Brandon: Pierian Press, 1984.
---. Lin Chu: The Black Swan. Alma: Owl’s Head Press, 2006.
---. The Pearl Inside the Body (Selected and New). Brandon: Pierian Press, 1991.
---. Poems Released on a Nuclear Wind. Lawrencetown: Pottersfield Press, 1987.
---. Singing the Flowers Open. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2001.
---. To An Unborn Child. Fort Collins: Leaping Mountain Press, 1988.
---. Toward the Country of Light: New and Selected Poems 1978-2018. Lawrencetown, NS: Pottersfield Press, 2018.
---. Waiting for the Small Ship of Desire. Lawrencetown: Pottersfield Press, 2020.
---, and Harry Thurston. The Deer Yard: A Winter Cycle. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2013.
Primary Sources: Articles
Cooper, Allan. “’I Must Write the Poem’: A Review Article on John Thompson’s Stilt Jack”. The Antigonish Review 42 (1980): 91-98.
Secondary Sources
Butler, Joel. “A request.” Email to Allan Cooper. 2 April 2009.
Cain, Michael Scott. “Rev. of The Alma Elegies.” Rambles.net . 15 Dec 2007. 11 May 2009.
Cook, Geoffrey. “Rev. of Singing the Flowers Open.” The Danforth Review Online. N.d. 11 May 2009.
Cran, E.E. “Two Volumes Show Part of Range of 21st-Century Poetry.” New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal 4 Sept. 2004: Life Section.
“Local Author Releases New Book of Poetry.” Times and Transcript [Moncton, N.B.] 24 Mar 2007: E5.
Lofranco, John. “A Review of Gabriel’s Wing.” Books in Canada Online. N.d. 11 May 2009.
MacGibbon, Lynda. “Hummingbirds, Poets, Clay Boxes.” Times and Transcript 3 July 1999: Life Section.
Morrissey, Stephen. “Review of Three Poetry Books.” Rev. of Poems Released on a Nuclear Wind Fall 1989. Accessed 19 May 2009.
Nowlan, Michael O. “Collection includes several local poets.” The Daily Gleaner [Fredericton, N.B.] 26 May 2007: C3.
Robinson, Heather. “N.B. Writer’s [sic] Federation Founders Honoured.” The Daily Gleaner 17 May 1999: News Section.
Wang, Phoebe. "Calling Through the Cold: Allan Cooper and Harry Thurston's The Deer Yard." Arc Poetry Magazine, arcpoetry.ca, 7 August 2014.
“Writers to Read at Moncton Library.” Times and Transcript. 29 March 2007: B8.
Bibliographic Sources provided by New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia
Cooper, Allan. Alma Elegies. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2007.
---. Bending The Branch: Twenty-six Poems. Sackville: Percheron Press, 1983.
---. Blood-Lines. Fredericton: Fiddlehead Poetry Books, 1979.
---. The Deer is Thirsty for the Mountain Stream: Version from the Chinese, Japanese, and the Book of Psalms. Alma: Owl’s Head Press, 1992.
---. Everything We've Loved Comes Back to Find Us. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 2017.
---. Gabriel’s Wing. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2004.
---. Heaven of Small Moments. Fredericton: Broken Jaw Press, 1998.
---. Hidden River Poems. Fredericton: Fiddlehead Press, 1982.
---. Jottings Toward the Country of the Light: 10 Ghazals. Brandon: Pierian Press, 1984.
---. Lin Chu: The Black Swan. Alma: Owl’s Head Press, 2006.
---. The Pearl Inside the Body (Selected and New). Brandon: Pierian Press, 1991.
---. Poems Released on a Nuclear Wind. Lawrencetown: Pottersfield Press, 1987.
---. Singing the Flowers Open. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2001.
---. To An Unborn Child. Fort Collins: Leaping Mountain Press, 1988.
---. Toward the Country of Light: New and Selected Poems 1978-2018. Lawrencetown, NS: Pottersfield Press, 2018.
---. Waiting for the Small Ship of Desire. Lawrencetown: Pottersfield Press, 2020.
---, and Harry Thurston. The Deer Yard: A Winter Cycle. Kentville: Gaspereau Press, 2013.
Primary Sources: Articles
Cooper, Allan. “’I Must Write the Poem’: A Review Article on John Thompson’s Stilt Jack”. The Antigonish Review 42 (1980): 91-98.
Secondary Sources
Butler, Joel. “A request.” Email to Allan Cooper. 2 April 2009.
Cain, Michael Scott. “Rev. of The Alma Elegies.” Rambles.net . 15 Dec 2007. 11 May 2009.
Cook, Geoffrey. “Rev. of Singing the Flowers Open.” The Danforth Review Online. N.d. 11 May 2009.
Cran, E.E. “Two Volumes Show Part of Range of 21st-Century Poetry.” New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal 4 Sept. 2004: Life Section.
“Local Author Releases New Book of Poetry.” Times and Transcript [Moncton, N.B.] 24 Mar 2007: E5.
Lofranco, John. “A Review of Gabriel’s Wing.” Books in Canada Online. N.d. 11 May 2009.
MacGibbon, Lynda. “Hummingbirds, Poets, Clay Boxes.” Times and Transcript 3 July 1999: Life Section.
Morrissey, Stephen. “Review of Three Poetry Books.” Rev. of Poems Released on a Nuclear Wind Fall 1989. Accessed 19 May 2009.
Nowlan, Michael O. “Collection includes several local poets.” The Daily Gleaner [Fredericton, N.B.] 26 May 2007: C3.
Robinson, Heather. “N.B. Writer’s [sic] Federation Founders Honoured.” The Daily Gleaner 17 May 1999: News Section.
Wang, Phoebe. "Calling Through the Cold: Allan Cooper and Harry Thurston's The Deer Yard." Arc Poetry Magazine, arcpoetry.ca, 7 August 2014.
“Writers to Read at Moncton Library.” Times and Transcript. 29 March 2007: B8.
Bibliographic Sources provided by New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia
