Kevin Michael Connolly is a Canadian poet, freelance editor and critic who was born in Biloxi, Mississippi and grew up in Maple, Ontario. Connolly has served as an editor for presses such as ECW Press, House of Anansi Press and Coach House Press. Connolly graduated from York University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Artswith honors and currently resides in Toronto with his partner, Canadian writerGil Adamson. After leaving York University, Connolly co-founded what! magazine with fellow York graduate, Jason Sherman. What! magazine published from 1985 to 1993 and was considered highly influential. Connolly incorporates the strategies and technique of language poetry in his work and his poetry has appeared in a number of small presses, including The Monika Schnarre story and Deathcake. In 1998, Eye weekly hired Connolly to write columns on poetry, food and theatre but by 2004 he left to start working as an editor for Coach House press.
Works and criticisms
In 1995, Connolly released his first collection of work, Asphalt cigar, which was nominated for the league of Canadian poets’ Gerald Lampert Award for best first book of poetry. Upon releasing Asphalt cigar, Connolly was one of six writers featured in Blues and True Concussions, an anthology of new Toronto poets. In 2002, Connolly released his second collection of work titled Happyland but did not gain greater recognition until the release of his 2005 collection, Drift which won the Trillium Book Award for poetry. Connolly’s second and third collections were both successful but were commonly criticized as showing too much of his process and ‘’lacking cohesive shape". In 2008, Connolly released his fourth collection of work, titled Revolver, which included the poems Revolver and Orono, both nominated for the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize. Connolly was a runner up for the Griffin poetry prize alongside writer Jeramy Dodds’ poem, titled crabwise to the hounds, which Connolly himself edited. Connolly’s poem, Revolver, was well received and he was noted for his use of humor in writing.
Connolly has helped educate many Canadians on poetry writing through workshops and educational competitions that focus on the process of poetry writing. During the 1990s, Connolly helped further the careers of Canadian writers by publishing the early work of Canadians such as Lynn Crosbie, Gary Barwin, Daniel Jones, Stuart Ross and Gil Adamson, in a collection titled pinkdog chapbook. He served as a poetry judge at the 2006 great Canadian literary hunt and his poem, titled Sundial, was featured in the 40th anniversary edition of This Magazine. His poem, titled Chain, from the 2005 Drift collection was included in a collection of works titled 30 in 30, a collection created to celebrate National Poetry Month.
