Photo credit
Mike Savage

Biography

Brendan McLeod is a Toronto-based poet, spoken word artist, theatre artist, and musician. He’s the author of one poetry collection, Friends Without Bodies, a novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, and six theatre shows. He is the founder of the JUNO nominated folk group The Fugitives, which have been nominated for multiple Canadian Folk Music and Western Canadian Music Awards, including Best Songwriter, Best Roots Group, and Best Vocal Group. He is a former Canadian SLAM poetry champion and World SLAM runner-up. He was the 2012 Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the 2015 Poet of Honour at the Victoria Spoken Word Festival. He has been influenced by a large contingent of spoken word artists including Zaccheus Jackson, Andrea Gibson, Buddy Wakefield, Sheri-D Wilson, and Jillian Christmas. 

www.brendanmcleod.ca 

Micro-interview

Did you read poetry when you were in high school? Is there a particular poem that you loved when you were a teenager?

As a teenager, I was very influenced by a combination of hip-hop, folk music, and Sharon Olds. 

When did you first start writing poetry? And then when did you start thinking of yourself as a poet?

I began as a performance poet when I was 23. I started touring a few years later, so that's when I decided to pick up the “poet” label. 

What do you think a poet’s “job” is?

Tell the truth with vivid language. 

If you had to choose one poem to memorize from our anthology, which one would it be?

Blackberrying” by Sylvia Plath. 

Publications

Title
Brain
Publisher
Patchwork Press
Editors
Joanna Reid
Date
2018
Publication type
Book
Title
The Convictions of Leonard McKinley
Publisher
Arsenal Pulp Press
Date
2007
Publication type
Book
Title
Cadence
Publisher
One Cool Word Magazine
Date
2008
Publication type
Periodical/Magazine
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