LITERARY C/V - J.S. Porter, poet, essayist & critic
4 Emming Court
Hamilton, ON
L9C 4A2 CANADA
Tel: (905)574-5208.
Books
2001: Spirit Book Word: An Inquiry into Literature & Spirituality, Novalis
- Reviewed in The Globe and Mail; The Ottawa Citizen; The Toronto Star (see more
- Words from Spirit Book Word performed by the Talisker Players Chamber
- Music at St. Paul’s Trinity United Church in Toronto, November 5, 2002
1988: The Thomas Merton Poems, Moonstone Press
- Reviewed in The University of Toronto Quarterly; The Merton Seasonal; Journal of Canadian Poetry
Journals & Newspapers (two samples from each periodical)
Literary Review of Canada (4 articles in total)
- 2004 Mirror Images
- A review of With Borges and Stevenson under the Palm Trees by Alberto Manguel
- 2003 Requiem for a Suicidal Genius
- A review of HA! A Self-Murder Mystery, written and directed by Gordon Sheppard
The Globe and Mail (10 articles in total)
- 2004 (October 2) Atwood right on target
- A review of Moving Targets: Writing with Intent 1982-2004
- 2002 (March 23) Atwood, light and dark
- A review of Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing
National Post
- 2001 (May 26) A mysterious, well-constructed, open-ended poetic novel
** A review of Martin Sloane by Michael Redhill
- 2001 (May 12) Culinary Crips and Bloods heat up Vancouver kitchens
- A review of Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor
Ottawa Citizen (10 reviews in total)
- 2001 (December 23) A fearless mind: Susan Sontag challenges the world with her pen
- A review of Where the Stress Falls by Susan Sontag
- 2000 (April 2) A masterful eclecticism: George Grant’s collected works start to emerge
- A review of George Grant’s Collected Works of George Grant, Vol. 1
**Hamilton Spectator (40+ articles in total)
- 2001 (August 9) Ghost Dog lives by the code
- A film review of Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog
- 2000 (July 20) A Satisfying Image
- A film discussion of Luc Bresson’s The Professional
Other Publications (a sample)
- The Re-Enchantment of the Word (+ 4 other articles in Brick)
Brick, Summer ‘94
Republished in Poetry Ireland Review, Autumn/Winter 1995
- Letter to Brodsky (+ 1 other article in Quarry)
Quarry, v 43 n 3 ‘94
- Notes on Emily Dickinson’s Terrible Simplicity (+ 5 other articles in The Antigonish Review)
The Antigonish Review, Spring ‘96
- A Conversation with Dennis Lee (+ 1 poem in The New Quarterly)
The New Quarterly, Summer ‘94
- Words I (poem)
Canadian Literature, No. 110, Fall ‘86
- Living by Carver
Asylum (Ireland), Issue 3, ‘97.
- Untitled (poem)
Kentucky Poetry Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, Fall ‘88
Quoted or Referenced In
- Athens and Jerusalem: George Grant’s Theology, Philosophy, and Politics. Edited by Ian Angus, Ron Dart, and Randy Peg Peters. (U of T, 2007)
- Don McKay: Essays on His Works. Edited by Brian Bartlett. (Guernica, 2006)
- Ronald Rolheiser, Forgotten Among the Lilies
- Ronald Rolheiser, Against An Infinite Horizon
- Michael W. Higgins, Heretic Blood
- Dennis Lee, Body Music
- Marilyn Gear Pilling, The Field Next to Love
- B.W. Powe, A Canada of Light
- Tim Lilburn, editor, Poetry and Knowing
- Robert Fulford, Accidental City
- Monique Tschofen, editor, Kristjana Gunnars: Essays on Her Works
Writings on Thomas Merton
- Thomas Merton as Public Intellectual, The Merton Seasonal 29.2 (Summer 2004): 16-24.
- Rev. of Heretic Blood: The Spiritual Geography of Thomas Merton by Michael Higgins, Antigonish Review 116 (Winter 1998): 53-58.
- Piggybacking on Merton, The Merton Seasonal 23.2 (Summer 1998): 19-22.
- Untitled (poem), Kentucky Poetry Review: Thomas Merton Memorial Issue 24.2 (fall 1998): 90.
- Farewell to a Monk, The Antigonish Review 108 (Winter 1997): 59-68.
- Silent Lamp: The Lives of Thomas Merton, Brick 55 (Fall 1996): 10-13.
- Thomas Merton’s Late Metaphors of the Self, The Merton Annual 7 (1994): 58-67.
- Review of The Courage for Truth: The Letters of Thomas Merton to Writers, Selected and Edited by Dr. Christine H. Bochen, Grail 10.1/2 (1994): 191-195.
- The Last Journals of Thomas Merton & Anais Nin, The Merton Annual 5 (1992): 279-295
- Thomas Merton & Wendell Berry: A Brief Study in Tone, The Merton Seasonal 17.2 (Spring 1992): 12-15.
Art Criticism
- Live Wood: Meditations on the Sculpture of Wayne Allan, Grail: An Ecumenical Journal, Vol. 3, Issue 2, June ‘87.
- Notes on Wayne Allan’s Sculpture, Grail, Vol. 10, Issue 4, Dec. ‘94
- Contemplating Father Dan Donovan’s Art Collection, Grail, Vol. 11, Issue 4, Dec. ‘95
- Meditation on Stone (on Edward Gibney), Grail, Vol. 13, Issue 1, March ‘97.
- Ted Rettig’s Stones, Grail, Vol. 14, Issue 2, June ‘98.
Awards
- The Catholic Press Journalism Award 1999
- Second Place — Best Review/Review Section (Ted Rettig’s Stones, Grail
Juror
- for the 2005 Drainie-Taylor Prize in Biography (autobiography& memoir)