Matt Robinson (poet)

For other people named Matt Robinson, see Matt Robinson (disambiguation).

Matt Robinson (born 1974) is a Canadian poet born in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Matt Robinson
Robinson in December 2015
Born	(1974-02-24) February 24, 1974 (age 51) Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nationality	Canada
Alma mater	St. Mary’s University Mount Saint Vincent University University of New Brunswick
Website	http://www.mattrobinsonpoet.wordpress.com

His first collection, A Ruckus of Awkward Stacking (2000),^[1] was published by Toronto's Insomniac Press, and was a finalist for both the Gerald Lampert Award and the ReLit Award for Poetry. Subsequent collections, published by Toronto's ECW Press, include how we play at it: a list (2002),^[2] no cage contains a stare that well (2005),^[3] and Against the Hard Angle (2010).^[4] In addition to his full-length collections, he has also published five chapbooks: tracery & interplay (Frog Hollow Press, 2004),^[5] Against the Hard Angle (Greenboathouse Press, 2009),^[6] a fist made and then un-made (Gaspereau Press, 2013),^[7] which was short-listed for the bpNichol Chapbook Award,^[8] The Telephone Game (Baseline Press, 2017),^[9] and Against (Gaspereau Press, 2018).^[10] Robinson's, Some Night's It's Entertainment; Some Other Nights Just Work,^[11] was published by Kentville, NS's awarding-winning Gaspereau Press in Fall 2016 and his new collection, Tangled & Cleft, was released by Gaspereau Press in Fall 2021.^[12]

Robinson's poems have won a number of awards including the Petra Kenney International Poetry Prize,^[13] Grain Magazine's Prose Poem Award, and The Malahat Review Long Poem Prize.^[14] He has also received the New Brunswick Foundation for the Arts Emerging Artist of the Year Award.

His poems have also appeared in a number of anthologies, including The New Canon,^[15] Breathing Fire 2,^[16] Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada,^[17] Exact Fare Only 2, and Landmarks: An Anthology of New Atlantic Canadian Poetry of the Land, and been featured in programs such as the Halifax Regional Municipality's Art in Public Places and Poetry in Motion initiatives.^[18] His poem ‘grand parade, halifax’ is publicly featured in Halifax's Grand Parade Square,^[19] and his poem ‘the grain elevators’ was produced as a cinepoem (in collaboration with filmmaker Megan Wennberg) as a part of the A Certain Openness: the filming of poetry project^[20] sponsored by AFCOOP and WFNS.

Robinson holds a BA and a BSc from Saint Mary's University, a BEd from Mount Saint Vincent University, and an MA from the University of New Brunswick. He is a graduate of Halifax's J. L. Ilsley High School.

Robinson worked at Dalhousie University as a Residence Life Manager (in Howe Hall) from 2007 to 2012.^[21][22] He currently serves as Director - Housing & Conference Services at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, NS.^[23]

Bibliography

• A Ruckus of Awkward Stacking, Insomniac Press, 2000.
• how we play at it: a list, ECW Press, 2002.
• tracery & interplay, Frog Hollow Press, 2004. (chapbook)
• no cage contains a stare that well, ECW Press, 2005.
• Against the Hard Angle, Greenboathouse Press, 2009. (chapbook)
• Against the Hard Angle, ECW Press, 2010.
• a fist made and then un-made, Gaspereau Press, 2013. (chapbook)
• Some Nights It's Entertainment; Some Other Nights Just Work, Gaspereau Press, 2016.
• The Telephone Game, Baseline Press, 2017 (chapbook)
• Against, Gaspereau Press, 2018 (chapbook)
• Tangled & Cleft, Gaspereau Press, 2021.