Poet/scholar/London-Open-Mic blogger Frank Davey has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada. 

Davey is one of six scholars at London's University of Western Ontario to be named among 90 new fellows of the Royal Society of Canada who have been elected by their peers in recognition of outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement. Election to the academies of the Royal Society of Canada is the highest honour a scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences. 

Frank Davey, Faculty of Arts & Humanities, is an internationally recognized scholar and a leading figure in exploring alternative and experimental theories of Canadian literature. His critical studies have transformed our understanding of language and discourse in the study of Canadian texts. Professor Davey’s sustained efforts – as critic, theorist, editor and poet – to enlarge and redirect Canadian literature studies have been essential contributions to its contemporary diversity and self awareness.

Davey currently has a blog on the website of London Open Mic Poetry Night.

The other newly-elected fellows from Western.

Fellows of the Royal Society, the most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists from the UK and Commonwealth, are elected for life through a peer review process on the basis of excellence in science. Founded in 1660, there are approximately 1,450 Fellows and Foreign Members, including more than 80 Nobel Laureates.

The fundamental purpose of the Royal Society is to recognize, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. The Society has played a part in some of the most fundamental, significant, and life-changing discoveries in scientific history and Royal Society scientists continue to make outstanding contributions to science in many research areas.

This year’s new fellows will be inducted on Saturday, Nov. 22, in Quebec City.

Photo of Davey by Paul Mayne//Western News

After more than a season and a half of London Open Mic Poetry Night events, over half of the local poets who satisfy our original criteria -- having had at least one book of poetry published --have read as featured poets. 

The following list (in alphabetical order) includes most of the remaining poets who fit that category. Most will read during Seasons 3 and 4. Only two have yet been booked into actual event dates for Season 3. 


Madeline Bassnett
Julie Berry
Patricia Black
Don Gutteridge - National Poetry Month, Season 3, April 2015
Martin Hayter
David Hickey
Debbie Okun Hill
Penn Kemp - National Poetry Month, Season 2, April 2014
John B. Lee
Monika Lee - June 4th, 2014 (2nd season ender)
Gloria Alvernaz Mulcahy
Roy MacDonald - Oct. 1st, 2015 (kicking off 3rd season)
Dorothy Neilsen
Erik Martinez Richards
Peggy Roffey

If I’m missing anyone, please tell me. 

Obviously there are not enough poets in this list to feature for more than two seasons. Assuming we will be enjoying an existence beyond that, and there seems to be no reason why we won’t, then we have a problem. 

I knew from the beginning this would have to be solved somehow, at some point, and so by December of Season 2 I began to loosen up the criteria for featuring, letting the occasional poet from elsewhere read, the first being UWO’s then Writer-in-Residence NourbeSe Philip Soon I had a few more poets from outside the area booked in, all for seemingly good reasons.  However, it is becoming obvious that this is threatening to erode away our ideal of supporting and promoting the local community. So in future this will only happen if it’s not possible to get a local poet to feature for an event. 

Where will local features come from when all the poets on the above list have read? 

Some will feature a second time, especially if they have a new book out. Frank Davey will be the first to do this early in Season 3. Anyone who publishes a new book and wants to re-feature, just ask. 

We will be widening our local area somewhat. The list above includes the first two from this enlarged region: John B. Lee of Brantford and Debbie Okun Hill from Sarnia. Others will follow.

Also we will begin featuring poets who don’t have any books published, some of whom are very good. As the number of poets has increased and the number of publishers of poetry books has decreased recently, many of our best poets have given up on publication, or are paying for it themselves. We haven’t decided yet how to select which of these poets to feature. 

Occasionally we will feature something different than a single poet. For instance, in February we had four senior UWO English students with something written for the occasion. If anyone has a good idea for a special feature, something locally oriented, there’s no harm in asking. 

Stan
burfield@live.com

The celebrated and influential poet Frank Davey has joined the organizing committee of London Open Mic Poetry Night.

Davey will bring to the open mic a world of experience with diverse aspects of the poetry scene.

Strathroy resident Frank Davey grew up in BC and  studied at UBC where in 1961 he co-founded with George Bowering and Fred Wah the influential and contentious poetry newsletter TISH. His first volume of poetry, in 1962, was described as ‘the act of the moment’ rather than poetry as the commonplace attempt 'to express  feelings.' In 1965 he launched the avant-garde poetry and criticism journal Open Letter, and, with the assistance of bpNichol, developed it into what many still see as Canada's most important forum for discussion and examination of innovative and experimental ideas and texts. 

Davey obtained his PhD from the University of Southern California in 1968. With the encouragement of George Woodcock, he began writing literary criticism, a body of work from the 1970s to the ‘90s which would be described as 'the most individual and influential ever written in Canada.' 

His most important early contribution was his withering 1974 critique, 'Surviving the Paraphrase, which discredited thematic criticism in Canada, including that of Northrop Frye, D.G. Jones and Margaret Atwood. 

From 1975-1992 Davey was one of the most active editors of the Coach House Press. In 1984 he co-founded the world’s first on-line literary journal, Swift Current. In 1986 he became the chair of the English Department of Toronto’s York University, where he quickly assumed a nationally influential role. Then, in 1990 Davey came to London, where he was appointed to the Carl F. Klinck Chair of Canadian Literature at UWO. Here he began a new writing phase involving analysis of various Canadian cultural scenes—from literary criticism to politics, celebrity, and popular crime  writing. These studies have given him much fodder for his poetry. 

Over the years, the stance Davey has taken in his criticism has occasionally put him into conflict with the Canadian literary establishment. For example, he has described Canadian literary and academic prizes as institutional rewards for 'banality and careerism'. On the other hand, he has often been seen as a 'poet’s poet'. 

Through his books of poetry, his literary and cultural criticism and his rich range of essays on diverse topics, Davey has been a major figure in introducing the idea and practice of postmodernism to writers in Canada. 

So far Davey has published 27 books of poetry, six since 2000, the latest being ‘Spectres of London, Ont’ (2012). He also has numerous non-fiction titles.

Amongst other endeavours, Davey is currently posting on Frank Davey Blog, which is hosted by London Open Mic Poetry Night.

Taking another step forward in his celebrated career, poet Frank Davey will launch a blog on the London Open Mic Poetry Night website April 30th. 

Now living in nearby Strathroy, Davey  grew up in BC and studied at UBC where in 1961 he co-founded with George Bowering and Fred Wah the influential and contentious poetry newsletter TISH. His first volume of poetry, in 1962, was described as ‘the act of the moment’ rather than poetry as the commonplace attempt 'to express ... feelings.' In 1965 he launched the avant-garde poetry and criticism journal Open Letter, and, with the assistance of  bpNichol, developed it into what many still see as Canada's most important forum for discussion and examination of innovative and experimental ideas and texts. 
Davey obtained his PhD from the University of Southern California in 1968. With the encouragement of George Woodcock, he began writing literary criticism, a body of work from the 1970s to the ‘90s which would be described as 'the most individual and influential ever written in Canada.' 

His most important early contribution was his withering 1974 critique, 'Surviving the Paraphrase,which discredited thematic criticism in Canada, including that of Northrop Frye, D.G. Jones and Margaret Atwood. 

The first four months of London Open Mic Poetry Night's first season have been a success, with the last event, on Jan. 3rd, featuring John Tyndall, drawing a crowd of fifty to the terrace at the Mykonos Restaurant, even more than attended the series' launch. We're optimistic that the remaining five months of the season will be just as upbeat.

We've made good use of the first four events to test out and then toss out ideas that sounded much better in an excited discussion than they actually worked on the floor. In the process we ended up with a leaner, simpler event, composed