Neile's Writing

Poetry

I've published over 100 poems in various Canadian and American magazines and anthologies (you can see my complete publications list). Three full-length collections of my poetry have been published:

Seven Robins (Penumbra Press, 1983)
Spells for Clear Vision (Brick Books, 1994, out of print)
Blood Memory, (BuschekBooks, 2000).
And two limited-edition chapbooks:
Travelling in Place (Saults and Pollard, 1980, out of print)
Sheela-Na-Gig (Reference West, 1995)

Spells for Clear Vision was on the short list for the Pat Lowther Award for the best book published by a Canadian woman in 1994.

As well as the sample poems linked from my books of poetry page, some samples of my current poetry are available on the web at The Alsop Review and in the Lynx: Poetry from Bath archives.

You can also read some comments by critics about my poetry or my entry in the Who's Who in the League of Canada Poets.

I also offer a page of advice on how to publish poetry, based on my own experiences sending my work out, and an essay, "The Making of Poetry: Form and Free Verse".

Fiction

Speculative fiction is a new passion for me (or actually a renewed one--l used to write it in my teens). I attended the 1996 Clarion West workshop, and there I started writing short fiction for the first time as an adult. This slowed down my progress on my novels considerably.

I am working on several short stories and also have three fantasy novels in the works: Bryony's Needle and Bryony's Daughter set in a fantasy world that physically resembles the southwest coast of British Columbia, and Gypsy Davey, based on the ballad by that name.

My first published short stories appeared in Odyssey (published in the U.K.) in October 1997 and December 1998.

Non-Fiction

I have also published articles, essays, book reviews, and commentary in various American and Canadian publications.

Honors and Awards

I've been lucky enough to receive several grants: two project grants from the Canada Council: one to complete Spells for Clear Vision and another to do research for a series of poems based on travels in Scotland; I have also received grants from The Seattle Arts Commission, Artists Trust of Washington, and the King County Arts Council to support poetry writing projects, and a small one from the Washington State Arts Commission to help me attend Clarion West.

A poem of mine, "On Skye" won third prize in the League of Canadian Poets' 1995 National Poetry Contest, and four others have been finalists in Arc magazine's Poem of the Year contest, and have appeared as "editor's choice" in their Autumn 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001 issues, respectively. "Wearing Nothing But The Midnight Sun" was chosen for Arc's 2002 Conferation Poets Prize.

My husband, James Gurley, is also a writer. He has poems published in various magazines including Poetry, Poetry Northwest, and Prism International, and has published two chapbooks of poems, Transformations (Reference West, 1995), and Radiant Measures (Floating Bridge Press, 1998). In 2002 he won the T.S. Eliot Prize for his first book Human Cartography.

last revised 7 November 2004

You are visitor number 6338 since 16 March 1998.

index § les semaines: a weekly journal § news
Neile's writing § books of poetry § publication list § critic's comments
recommended reading list § how to sell poetry § the making of poetry
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Mail comments, questions, and complaints to: neile@sff.net