Sue Sinclair
Biography
Sue Sinclair - Photo Courtesy of eventmagazine.ca
Sue Sinclair was born and raised in St. John's, Newfoundland, and obtained her bachelor's degree at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick in 1994. Upon completion of her first degree, Sinclair continued her education at the University of New Brunswick, where she was also Writer-in-Residence for the 2011-2012 academic year.
Sinclair's first book of poetry, Secrets of Weather and Hope in 2001, was a top contender for the 2002 Gerald Lampert Award, Mortal Arguments in 2003 was a finalist for the Atlantic Poetry Prize, and The Drunken Lovely Bird won the International Independent Publisher’s Award for Poetry. Breaker (2008) is her latest work, one concerned chiefly with the philosophy of beauty.
Sinclair currently resides in Montreal, Quebec where she works as the Critic-in-Residence for CWILA (Canadian Women in the Literary Arts), while she is also a doctoral candidate in Philosophy at the University of Toronto. In addition to her work in academia and Canada's literary scene, she also runs an interview series on the literary website Lemon Hound.
Sinclair's first book of poetry, Secrets of Weather and Hope in 2001, was a top contender for the 2002 Gerald Lampert Award, Mortal Arguments in 2003 was a finalist for the Atlantic Poetry Prize, and The Drunken Lovely Bird won the International Independent Publisher’s Award for Poetry. Breaker (2008) is her latest work, one concerned chiefly with the philosophy of beauty.
Sinclair currently resides in Montreal, Quebec where she works as the Critic-in-Residence for CWILA (Canadian Women in the Literary Arts), while she is also a doctoral candidate in Philosophy at the University of Toronto. In addition to her work in academia and Canada's literary scene, she also runs an interview series on the literary website Lemon Hound.
Additional Information:
Author's Wikipedia page
Breaker
Secrets of Weather & Hope
Mortal Arguments
Letters and Art Series – Lecture and reading
Author's Wikipedia page
Breaker
Secrets of Weather & Hope
Mortal Arguments
Letters and Art Series – Lecture and reading
It arches its long neck,
dips its head
under the sun
like a waterbird
bathing.
Stranded
Under a blue sky,
it watches
Bicycles and skateboards, kids
in the playground . . .
it waits all day, has withdrawn
into the beauty of things
at rest,
the quotidian;
preening, it blends
into the matter of fact,
almost invisible
like the noonday moon; time
to dream,
to think of things
not otherwise noticed.
If it stretched its neck
lower, you could stroke
its metal back,
the sun glinting
on its bent head;
though its mind is miles
away,
it would still lean out
its throat to be smoothed.
The dull light
In its casing, the absent-minded
glow
draws you in,
is recognizable;
it says
the distance between things
may be less
than you thought.
Published in The Drunken Lovely Bird. Gooselane Editions, 2004.
Used with permission of the author.
dips its head
under the sun
like a waterbird
bathing.
Stranded
Under a blue sky,
it watches
Bicycles and skateboards, kids
in the playground . . .
it waits all day, has withdrawn
into the beauty of things
at rest,
the quotidian;
preening, it blends
into the matter of fact,
almost invisible
like the noonday moon; time
to dream,
to think of things
not otherwise noticed.
If it stretched its neck
lower, you could stroke
its metal back,
the sun glinting
on its bent head;
though its mind is miles
away,
it would still lean out
its throat to be smoothed.
The dull light
In its casing, the absent-minded
glow
draws you in,
is recognizable;
it says
the distance between things
may be less
than you thought.
Published in The Drunken Lovely Bird. Gooselane Editions, 2004.
Used with permission of the author.
Critical Analysis: Transformation of the Observer and the Observed in Sue Sinclair's "Streetlight, Afternoon"
Nick Geldart (for ENGL 3403: Canadian Poetry)
Sue Sinclair is no stranger to the devices and techniques of personification. Throughout her 2004 collection The Drunken Lovely Bird, Sinclair humanizes and gives voice to various objects and entities. The subject of this voicing varies from poem to poem, ranging from the particulars of a jellyfish dying on a beach to the experience of an entire cityscape. “Streetlight, Afternoon” maintains this theme of infrastructure with human capacity, as Sinclair employs an extended metaphor with a visual slant as curious in structure as content.
The conceit begins from the first stanza: “like a waterbird / bathing” (4-5). This could easily have been the opening to a journal entry of a deep-woods birdwatcher, as it presents the idea that the observer is viewing the object as something in its natural habitat. The streetlight is seen as a graceful bird because of its physical shape, but also because of its quiet, unassuming presence. “Stranded / under a blue sky” (6-7), it has nothing to do but rest and wait for evening. Both the streetlight and the observer watch over the street, and neither seems to be going anywhere. Here, Sinclair's speaker implies a reciprocal viewership between the observer and observed.
The third and fourth stanzas of “Streetlight, Afternoon” begin to display an intimacy between the streetlight and the observer. The speaker suggests touching the streetlight, stroking it like a pet, its head warmed by the sun. Yet no complete intellectual connection between speaker and streetlight is possible, as the latter's “mind is miles / away” (27-28). As the piece closes, so too does the distance between observer and observed. As the sun goes down, the streetlight brightens and discovers its voice, speaking directly to the observer.
The choice of second-person voice inspires empathy within the reader for the observer: each shares a similar position, trying to engage with something which initially seems inanimate. Sinclair uses descriptive visual imagery and idiosyncratic enjambment to draw the reader in, immersed into the action of the poem. This is reflected in the observer being drawn closer to the streetlight as the stanzas progress.
Through the poem's progression, Sinclair's speaker recalls the “quotidian” (14) nature of the streetlight, as it “blends / into the matter of fact” (15-16). Sinclair traverses between the “dull” (31) reality of the streetlight—with its “dull light” (31) and “absent-minded glow” (32-33)—and the observer's reaction to it. Sinclair's diction reveals a similar traversal, as the streetlight is consistently referred to “it” (1, 8, 27) while also being personified: it “watches” (8), “waits” (11), and “preen[s]” (15). Just as the observer is drawn closer to the streetlight, so to is the reader drawn into the poem by Sinclair's language.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Sinclair, Sue. “Streetlight, Afternoon.” The Drunken Lovely Bird. Fredericton, N.B: Goose Lane, 2004.
Sue Sinclair is no stranger to the devices and techniques of personification. Throughout her 2004 collection The Drunken Lovely Bird, Sinclair humanizes and gives voice to various objects and entities. The subject of this voicing varies from poem to poem, ranging from the particulars of a jellyfish dying on a beach to the experience of an entire cityscape. “Streetlight, Afternoon” maintains this theme of infrastructure with human capacity, as Sinclair employs an extended metaphor with a visual slant as curious in structure as content.
The conceit begins from the first stanza: “like a waterbird / bathing” (4-5). This could easily have been the opening to a journal entry of a deep-woods birdwatcher, as it presents the idea that the observer is viewing the object as something in its natural habitat. The streetlight is seen as a graceful bird because of its physical shape, but also because of its quiet, unassuming presence. “Stranded / under a blue sky” (6-7), it has nothing to do but rest and wait for evening. Both the streetlight and the observer watch over the street, and neither seems to be going anywhere. Here, Sinclair's speaker implies a reciprocal viewership between the observer and observed.
The third and fourth stanzas of “Streetlight, Afternoon” begin to display an intimacy between the streetlight and the observer. The speaker suggests touching the streetlight, stroking it like a pet, its head warmed by the sun. Yet no complete intellectual connection between speaker and streetlight is possible, as the latter's “mind is miles / away” (27-28). As the piece closes, so too does the distance between observer and observed. As the sun goes down, the streetlight brightens and discovers its voice, speaking directly to the observer.
The choice of second-person voice inspires empathy within the reader for the observer: each shares a similar position, trying to engage with something which initially seems inanimate. Sinclair uses descriptive visual imagery and idiosyncratic enjambment to draw the reader in, immersed into the action of the poem. This is reflected in the observer being drawn closer to the streetlight as the stanzas progress.
Through the poem's progression, Sinclair's speaker recalls the “quotidian” (14) nature of the streetlight, as it “blends / into the matter of fact” (15-16). Sinclair traverses between the “dull” (31) reality of the streetlight—with its “dull light” (31) and “absent-minded glow” (32-33)—and the observer's reaction to it. Sinclair's diction reveals a similar traversal, as the streetlight is consistently referred to “it” (1, 8, 27) while also being personified: it “watches” (8), “waits” (11), and “preen[s]” (15). Just as the observer is drawn closer to the streetlight, so to is the reader drawn into the poem by Sinclair's language.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Sinclair, Sue. “Streetlight, Afternoon.” The Drunken Lovely Bird. Fredericton, N.B: Goose Lane, 2004.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Sinclair, Sue. "Anthropocene I." Geist, geist.com, 2017.
---. “Apples.” Home for Christmas : stories from the Maritimes and Newfoundland. Ed. Sabine Campbell. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 1999.
---. "Argument with Rilke." Fiddlehead. (2013): 42.
---. "Back Yard." Antigonish Review. 135 (Fall 2003): 64.
---. "Bountiful Harvest." The Fiddlehead 281 (Autumn 2019): 6.
---. Breaker. London: Brick Books, 2008.
---. “Cafe Interior, Night.” Canadian Literature 166 (Autumn 2000): 84.
---. “Collar Bones.” The New Canon: An Anthology of Canadian Poetry. Ed. Carmine Starnino. Montréal: Signal Editions. 294.
---. The Drunken Lovely Bird. Fredericton: Gooselane Editions, 2004.
---. "Ends of the Earth." Fiddlehead. (2013): 41.
---. "Exercise in Beauty, No. 1." Fiddlehead. (2013): 43.
---. “Green Pepper.” Cullum, Linda K, Carmelita McGrath, and Marilyn Porter. Weather's Edge: A Compendium. St. John's: Killick Press, 2006. 262.
---. “Green Pepper.” Starnino et al. 294.
---. Heaven's Thieves. London, ON: Brick Books, 2016. Bottom of Form
---. "The Long Haul." Arc Poetry Magazine, arcpoetry.ca. 19 Aug. 2020.
---. "Looking Forward: Celebrating 75 Years of The Fiddlehead." The Fiddlehead 75th Anniversary Issue (2020): 6-7.
---. "The Mine Speaks." Women & Environments International Magazine 100/101 (Summer/Fall 2019): 91. Accessed Women and Environments International Magazine, yorku.ca.
---. Mortal Arguments. London: Brick Books, 2003.
---. “The Pitcher.” Starnino et al. 295.
---. “The Pitcher.” Cullum et al. 1.
---. "Poems." Canadian Literature. (2000): 84.
---. "Poems." Canadian Literature. (2001): 109.
---. "Reflection, Refraction, and What Was Seen Through the Window: Anaphora of the Visible." Canadian Literature. 170/171 (Sept/Dec 2001): 109.
---. “Red Pepper.” Starnino et al. 293.
---. “Saturday Afternoon.” Starnino et al. 292.
---. Secrets of Weather & Hope. London: Brick Books, 2001.
---. "Spring 2019 Introduction." The Fiddlehead 279 (Spring 2019): 6-7.
---. “St. John River, Spring.” Antigonish Review 135 (Fall 2003): 63.
---. "Thank You, Ross." The Fiddlehead 278 (Winter 2019): 6.
---. "Too Pretty to be in a Wheelchair: On Beauty and Disability." Hamilton Arts & Letters, samizdatpress.typepad.com.
---. "Winter 2020 Editorial." The Fiddlehead 282 (Winter 2020): 6.
---. “Wisdom.” Goulet, Clare, and Mark Dickinson. Lyric Ecology: An Appreciation of the Work of Jan Zwicky. Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2010. 157-165.
--- and Shane Neilson, eds. Gnaw & Gnarl.. Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018.
--- and Shane Neilson, eds. Parallel Universes: the poetries of New Brunswick. Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018.
---. and Nick Thran. "Nine-Tenths Unseen, an Afterword." What the Poets are Doing. Ed. Rob Taylor. Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2018: 167-178.
Sipos, George, and Sue Sinclair. The Glassblowers. Fredericton: Gooselane Editions, 2010.
Secondary Sources
Effinger, Elizabth. "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Lives Through Women's Prison Poetry Project." The Conversation, theconversation.com. 25 Aug. 2019.
---. "Nature’s “every day disabille”: John Clare, shattered vision, and the everyday poetics of noon." Romanticism on the Net 72-73 (Spring-Fall 2019). Romanticism on the Net, ronjournal.org.
Fitzgerald, Heather. "Mortal Arguments." Rev. of Mortal Arguments by Sue Sinclair. Quill & Quire Jan 2004. Quill & Quire.
Glenn, Lorri Neilsen. "Review." The Antigonish Review 16 Jun. 2010. Antigonish Review.
Jerome, Gillian. Lyrics in Flight. canlit.ca. Canadian Literature, 8 Dec. 2011.
Lahey, Anita. "Academic papers get poetic." University Affairs. AAUC, 5 Dec 2011.
Mackie, Jeffrey. "Review by Jeffrey Mackie." vallummag.com. Vallum Contemporary Poetry. 2013.
McDonald, Tanis. "Review." The Malahat Review. Spring 2006.
Miller, Eric. Rev. of Parallel Universe ed. by Shane Neilson and Sue Sinclair. The Dalhousie Review 99.2 (Summer 2019). Gale OneFile, go-gale-com.proxy.hil.unb.ca.
Morrison, Barbara. "Breaker, by Sue Sinclair." Rev. of Breaker by Sue Sinclair. B. Morrison. B. Morrison, 15 Aug 2011.
Pilarski, Patrick M.. "Breaker." PoetryReviews.ca. Shadow Box Creative Media Ltd., 15 Mar 2009.
Purdy, Gilbert Wesley. "Before the Threshold." Eclectica Magazine. Eclectica, Apr 2010.
Schnickelfritz, Victor. "Sue Sinclair - Breaker." The Great American Pinup. 19 Nov 2011.
Sinclair, Sue. "As the World Ends, Has the Time for Grieving Arrived?" Literary Hub, lithub.com, 1 Dec. 2017.
---. "Shining a Light on M. Travis Lane." Rev. of How Thoughts Feel: the poetry of M. Travis Lane by Shane Neilson. Fiddlehead 274 (Winter 2018): 103-106.
---. "Spring 2019 Introduction." The Fiddlehead 279 (Spring 2019): 6-7.
---. "Thank You, Ross." The Fiddlehead 278 (Winter 2019): 6.
Steel, Carol. "Sue Sinclair and Kerry-Lee Powell, A Poetry Reading ." Carol Steel 5050. Carol Steel, 27 Mar 2012.
Urschel, Katrin. "Reverberating Verse." Canadian Literature 200 (Spring 2009): 143-144. Literature Online,
Woodcock, Patrick . "Secrets of Weather and Hope:" Quill & Quire Jun. 2001. Quill & Quire. Rev. of Secrets of Weather and Hope by Sue Sinclair.
Sinclair, Sue. "Anthropocene I." Geist, geist.com, 2017.
---. “Apples.” Home for Christmas : stories from the Maritimes and Newfoundland. Ed. Sabine Campbell. Fredericton: Goose Lane, 1999.
---. "Argument with Rilke." Fiddlehead. (2013): 42.
---. "Back Yard." Antigonish Review. 135 (Fall 2003): 64.
---. "Bountiful Harvest." The Fiddlehead 281 (Autumn 2019): 6.
---. Breaker. London: Brick Books, 2008.
---. “Cafe Interior, Night.” Canadian Literature 166 (Autumn 2000): 84.
---. “Collar Bones.” The New Canon: An Anthology of Canadian Poetry. Ed. Carmine Starnino. Montréal: Signal Editions. 294.
---. The Drunken Lovely Bird. Fredericton: Gooselane Editions, 2004.
---. "Ends of the Earth." Fiddlehead. (2013): 41.
---. "Exercise in Beauty, No. 1." Fiddlehead. (2013): 43.
---. “Green Pepper.” Cullum, Linda K, Carmelita McGrath, and Marilyn Porter. Weather's Edge: A Compendium. St. John's: Killick Press, 2006. 262.
---. “Green Pepper.” Starnino et al. 294.
---. Heaven's Thieves. London, ON: Brick Books, 2016. Bottom of Form
---. "The Long Haul." Arc Poetry Magazine, arcpoetry.ca. 19 Aug. 2020.
---. "Looking Forward: Celebrating 75 Years of The Fiddlehead." The Fiddlehead 75th Anniversary Issue (2020): 6-7.
---. "The Mine Speaks." Women & Environments International Magazine 100/101 (Summer/Fall 2019): 91. Accessed Women and Environments International Magazine, yorku.ca.
---. Mortal Arguments. London: Brick Books, 2003.
---. “The Pitcher.” Starnino et al. 295.
---. “The Pitcher.” Cullum et al. 1.
---. "Poems." Canadian Literature. (2000): 84.
---. "Poems." Canadian Literature. (2001): 109.
---. "Reflection, Refraction, and What Was Seen Through the Window: Anaphora of the Visible." Canadian Literature. 170/171 (Sept/Dec 2001): 109.
---. “Red Pepper.” Starnino et al. 293.
---. “Saturday Afternoon.” Starnino et al. 292.
---. Secrets of Weather & Hope. London: Brick Books, 2001.
---. "Spring 2019 Introduction." The Fiddlehead 279 (Spring 2019): 6-7.
---. “St. John River, Spring.” Antigonish Review 135 (Fall 2003): 63.
---. "Thank You, Ross." The Fiddlehead 278 (Winter 2019): 6.
---. "Too Pretty to be in a Wheelchair: On Beauty and Disability." Hamilton Arts & Letters, samizdatpress.typepad.com.
---. "Winter 2020 Editorial." The Fiddlehead 282 (Winter 2020): 6.
---. “Wisdom.” Goulet, Clare, and Mark Dickinson. Lyric Ecology: An Appreciation of the Work of Jan Zwicky. Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2010. 157-165.
--- and Shane Neilson, eds. Gnaw & Gnarl.. Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018.
--- and Shane Neilson, eds. Parallel Universes: the poetries of New Brunswick. Victoria: Frog Hollow Press, 2018.
---. and Nick Thran. "Nine-Tenths Unseen, an Afterword." What the Poets are Doing. Ed. Rob Taylor. Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2018: 167-178.
Sipos, George, and Sue Sinclair. The Glassblowers. Fredericton: Gooselane Editions, 2010.
Secondary Sources
Effinger, Elizabth. "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Lives Through Women's Prison Poetry Project." The Conversation, theconversation.com. 25 Aug. 2019.
---. "Nature’s “every day disabille”: John Clare, shattered vision, and the everyday poetics of noon." Romanticism on the Net 72-73 (Spring-Fall 2019). Romanticism on the Net, ronjournal.org.
Fitzgerald, Heather. "Mortal Arguments." Rev. of Mortal Arguments by Sue Sinclair. Quill & Quire Jan 2004. Quill & Quire.
Glenn, Lorri Neilsen. "Review." The Antigonish Review 16 Jun. 2010. Antigonish Review.
Jerome, Gillian. Lyrics in Flight. canlit.ca. Canadian Literature, 8 Dec. 2011.
Lahey, Anita. "Academic papers get poetic." University Affairs. AAUC, 5 Dec 2011.
Mackie, Jeffrey. "Review by Jeffrey Mackie." vallummag.com. Vallum Contemporary Poetry. 2013.
McDonald, Tanis. "Review." The Malahat Review. Spring 2006.
Miller, Eric. Rev. of Parallel Universe ed. by Shane Neilson and Sue Sinclair. The Dalhousie Review 99.2 (Summer 2019). Gale OneFile, go-gale-com.proxy.hil.unb.ca.
Morrison, Barbara. "Breaker, by Sue Sinclair." Rev. of Breaker by Sue Sinclair. B. Morrison. B. Morrison, 15 Aug 2011.
Pilarski, Patrick M.. "Breaker." PoetryReviews.ca. Shadow Box Creative Media Ltd., 15 Mar 2009.
Purdy, Gilbert Wesley. "Before the Threshold." Eclectica Magazine. Eclectica, Apr 2010.
Schnickelfritz, Victor. "Sue Sinclair - Breaker." The Great American Pinup. 19 Nov 2011.
Sinclair, Sue. "As the World Ends, Has the Time for Grieving Arrived?" Literary Hub, lithub.com, 1 Dec. 2017.
---. "Shining a Light on M. Travis Lane." Rev. of How Thoughts Feel: the poetry of M. Travis Lane by Shane Neilson. Fiddlehead 274 (Winter 2018): 103-106.
---. "Spring 2019 Introduction." The Fiddlehead 279 (Spring 2019): 6-7.
---. "Thank You, Ross." The Fiddlehead 278 (Winter 2019): 6.
Steel, Carol. "Sue Sinclair and Kerry-Lee Powell, A Poetry Reading ." Carol Steel 5050. Carol Steel, 27 Mar 2012.
Urschel, Katrin. "Reverberating Verse." Canadian Literature 200 (Spring 2009): 143-144. Literature Online,
Woodcock, Patrick . "Secrets of Weather and Hope:" Quill & Quire Jun. 2001. Quill & Quire. Rev. of Secrets of Weather and Hope by Sue Sinclair.
