New Brunswick Author Portal

M. Travis  Lane
Categories: Female AuthorsAnglophone AuthorsPoetsMiramichi RiverSaint John River Valley

photo of author
Source: Author



Biography

Born 1934, a second-generation “army brat” so no “home town,” Lane came to Fredericton in 1960, becoming a Canadian citizen in 1973. B.A. Vassar, PhD, Cornell, Honorary Research Associate for the English Department at U. N. B. since 1967, she has written over one hundred reviews and essays. Her work first appeared in The Vassar Review, and in Five Poets (Cornell, 1960). A life member of the League of Canadian Poets, and Honorary President of the Writer's Federation of New Brunswick, Lane has won many honours, and believes herself to be very lucky to be living in Fredericton, and to have had the opportunity of becoming friends with so many good writers.



How has New Brunswick influenced your work?

New Brunswick has influenced my work because it is where I live, what I see, what I work in and think about; it is where most of my friends live. These are the woods I walk in, the people I visit. Anywhere else I am a tourist. Here I am home.

What is your favourite New Brunswick book, and why?

Many of the poets I most admire also live in the Maritimes, and I do not think I could pick out one favourite N.B. book, because there are so many good ones. We are particularly rich in poets.

What do you consider to be the highlight of your career so far?

The highlight of my career so far was when the musician composer Brenda Muller set to music and performed (with pianist, cellist, flautist, and singer) my long poem "The Witch of the Inner Woods," from Reckonings.











Literary Prizes

Honorable mention, Descant Fiction and Poetry Award - 2009
Bliss Carman Poetry Award - 2006
Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in English Language Literary Arts - 2003
Atlantic Poetry Prize - 2001
Amethyst Review Poetry Contest - 1997
Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick Literary Competition (Poetry) - 1994
Fiddlehead Contest (Poetry) - 1991
The Pat Lowther Memorial Award, League of Canadian Poets - 1981
Northern Light Editor’s Award - 1975
Mary Hardin-Baylor Prize - 1952

Featured Publication

 
The Crisp Day Closing on my Hand: The Poetry of M. Travis Lane
(2007)
Excerpt:


An early dusk, snow-gathered, fades the greys
of spruce ad poplar, twig and branch,
erasing shades and shadows with its brush.
The out-of-doors has emptied out, the brooks
in marble silenced, and, among the faded berries,
claws sleep-locked, a bird, a stolid tuft,
enters the stall of nothingness.
The sun, diminished, a souvenir,
a shade of white forgot in white,
might like the moon be absent….


(Less than one fourth of « Dusk Sequence »)


Find this author in the New Brunswick public libraries catalogue.


Source(s): Author