Biography
Deirdre “Dee” Dwyer is an accomplished poet from Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia. Throughout her career, she has published three books; The Breath that Lightens the Body (1999), Going to the Eyestone (2002), and The Blomidon Logs (2016), as well as over 100 pieces of poetry in various magazines and journals since 1975.
Dwyer’s fascination for poetry began in her sixth grade English class. A lesson on Haikus influenced Dee to take up the art, which eventually lead to her work getting published before she even finished high school. She then went on to earn a Masters in English and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor, moving to Japan soon after to teach English. Her time there lasted two years, and since returning, she has continued to teach; currently offering Creative Writing Classes at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.
Dwyer is a passionate environmentalist and volunteer in her community, having worked with various organizations over the years to maintain the beauty and culture of her hometown. This passion for her home is conveyed in her poetry, lined with references to Musquodoboit Harbour that she recalls or heard about throughout her life.
Dwyer’s poems have won multiple awards, such as the First Prize in the 1980 Atlantic Writing Competition; Second Places Prizes in the 1985 and 2012 Atlantic Writing Competitions; and Honourable Mentions in the 1994 and 1997 Short Grain Contests, as well as The Fiddlehead's 1996 Annual Writing Competition.
Dwyer’s fascination for poetry began in her sixth grade English class. A lesson on Haikus influenced Dee to take up the art, which eventually lead to her work getting published before she even finished high school. She then went on to earn a Masters in English and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor, moving to Japan soon after to teach English. Her time there lasted two years, and since returning, she has continued to teach; currently offering Creative Writing Classes at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.
Dwyer is a passionate environmentalist and volunteer in her community, having worked with various organizations over the years to maintain the beauty and culture of her hometown. This passion for her home is conveyed in her poetry, lined with references to Musquodoboit Harbour that she recalls or heard about throughout her life.
Dwyer’s poems have won multiple awards, such as the First Prize in the 1980 Atlantic Writing Competition; Second Places Prizes in the 1985 and 2012 Atlantic Writing Competitions; and Honourable Mentions in the 1994 and 1997 Short Grain Contests, as well as The Fiddlehead's 1996 Annual Writing Competition.
Additional Information:
Writers Federation of Nova Scotia Entry
Eastern Shore Cooperator Interview
Poet’s Twitter
Poet’s Facebook
Writers Federation of Nova Scotia Entry
Eastern Shore Cooperator Interview
Poet’s Twitter
Poet’s Facebook
Poem: "The Years Mapped Out"
Circa 1890, the Bordens milled,
sluiced logs down the brook.
my father’s drawn it like railroad tracks
with arrows–go this way, spring
runoff: roar, scrape, and grind,
the forest’s teeth bite into that deluge
of dark juice, sludge, and mire before
the lumber floats, purrs
and gurgles, goes mute
and is shipped out.
He’s mapped the family too:
Sir Frederick and Lady B. outlived
their son killed in the Boer War
and daughter lost at sea.
After the fin de siècle, world weariness
consumed like caviar? Horses and tight chains
dragged logs to the edge, fifty foot drop–roil
and crack. The boom below: premonition
and echo of Europe’s Great War.
Timber, dominoes go down:
Christmas 1939, he’s ten
at the end of the road. Wet snow
melts where he walks.
Here we might mark an X–
a seed falls, a path opens–that day
he studied the white breath
and muscled strain: eight teams
of horse and oxen hauling a black
metal animal–a boiler–
up the mountain road.
They’ll build a fire under its belly
so it will steam, work
the steady chug of its arm at the mill.
They’ll move it five times
before the big forests disappear.
Here I might cut another X in hardwood
if I could find some. Instead I’ll circle
–think of trees he will later cultivate
and tree rings, no beginning or end–
the day he decided his career.
sluiced logs down the brook.
my father’s drawn it like railroad tracks
with arrows–go this way, spring
runoff: roar, scrape, and grind,
the forest’s teeth bite into that deluge
of dark juice, sludge, and mire before
the lumber floats, purrs
and gurgles, goes mute
and is shipped out.
He’s mapped the family too:
Sir Frederick and Lady B. outlived
their son killed in the Boer War
and daughter lost at sea.
After the fin de siècle, world weariness
consumed like caviar? Horses and tight chains
dragged logs to the edge, fifty foot drop–roil
and crack. The boom below: premonition
and echo of Europe’s Great War.
Timber, dominoes go down:
Christmas 1939, he’s ten
at the end of the road. Wet snow
melts where he walks.
Here we might mark an X–
a seed falls, a path opens–that day
he studied the white breath
and muscled strain: eight teams
of horse and oxen hauling a black
metal animal–a boiler–
up the mountain road.
They’ll build a fire under its belly
so it will steam, work
the steady chug of its arm at the mill.
They’ll move it five times
before the big forests disappear.
Here I might cut another X in hardwood
if I could find some. Instead I’ll circle
–think of trees he will later cultivate
and tree rings, no beginning or end–
the day he decided his career.
Critical Analysis:
Bibliography
Primary Sources: Poetry Books
Dwyer, Deirdre. The Blomidon Logs. ECW Press, 2016.
---. Going to the Eyestone. Wolsak and Wynn Publishers ltd., 2002.
---. The Breath that Lightens the Body. Dundurn Press, 1999.
Primary Sources: Journal Publications
Dwyer, Deirdre. “Akazome Emon Viewing the Moon from her Palace Chambers.” Exile 41.4. 2018.
---. “A Sacred Place.” Blomidon Naturalists Society Newsletter 40.3. 2013. pp. 53-54.
---. “Choreography.” Prairie Journal 60. 2013. pp. 24-25.
---. “Farmers Celebrating the Autumn Moon.” Exile 41, no. 4. 2018.
---. “Grave Marker Moon.” Exile 41. 2018.
---. “Heirlooms.” The Antigonish Review 46. 2016.
---. “The House, so they say.” The Antigonish Review 47.185. 2016.
---. “Jade Rabbit (Gyokuto).” Exile 41. 2018
---. “Kitayama Moon.” Exile 41. 2018.
---. “Lady Chiyo and the Broken Water Bucket.” Exile 41. 2018.
---. “Musashi Plain Moon.” Exile 41. 2018.
---. “The Other Child, Going There.” The Antigonish Review 46. 2016.
---. “Photograph with Dutch Door Open.” The Antigonish Review 175. 2013. pp. 79-80.
---. “To Name a Brook.” Blomidon Naturalists Society Newsletter 40.4. 2013. pp. 51-52.
---. “Yellow Blanket.” Prairie Journal 60. 2013. pp. 24-25.
Secondary Sources
Mooney, Jacob McArthur. “Poetry Reviews by Jacob McArthur Mooney.” The Malahat Review 198. 2017.
“Poets Resist: Deirdre Dwyer.” All Lit Up, April 17 2017. https://alllitup.ca/Blog/2017/Poets-Resist-Deirdre-Dwyer#topofpostcontent
Dwyer, Deirdre. The Blomidon Logs. ECW Press, 2016.
---. Going to the Eyestone. Wolsak and Wynn Publishers ltd., 2002.
---. The Breath that Lightens the Body. Dundurn Press, 1999.
Primary Sources: Journal Publications
Dwyer, Deirdre. “Akazome Emon Viewing the Moon from her Palace Chambers.” Exile 41.4. 2018.
---. “A Sacred Place.” Blomidon Naturalists Society Newsletter 40.3. 2013. pp. 53-54.
---. “Choreography.” Prairie Journal 60. 2013. pp. 24-25.
---. “Farmers Celebrating the Autumn Moon.” Exile 41, no. 4. 2018.
---. “Grave Marker Moon.” Exile 41. 2018.
---. “Heirlooms.” The Antigonish Review 46. 2016.
---. “The House, so they say.” The Antigonish Review 47.185. 2016.
---. “Jade Rabbit (Gyokuto).” Exile 41. 2018
---. “Kitayama Moon.” Exile 41. 2018.
---. “Lady Chiyo and the Broken Water Bucket.” Exile 41. 2018.
---. “Musashi Plain Moon.” Exile 41. 2018.
---. “The Other Child, Going There.” The Antigonish Review 46. 2016.
---. “Photograph with Dutch Door Open.” The Antigonish Review 175. 2013. pp. 79-80.
---. “To Name a Brook.” Blomidon Naturalists Society Newsletter 40.4. 2013. pp. 51-52.
---. “Yellow Blanket.” Prairie Journal 60. 2013. pp. 24-25.
Secondary Sources
Mooney, Jacob McArthur. “Poetry Reviews by Jacob McArthur Mooney.” The Malahat Review 198. 2017.
“Poets Resist: Deirdre Dwyer.” All Lit Up, April 17 2017. https://alllitup.ca/Blog/2017/Poets-Resist-Deirdre-Dwyer#topofpostcontent
