McGIMPSEY, David 1962-

PERSONAL: Born January 28, 1962, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; son of John A. (a welder) and Mary McGimpsey; married Carol Dennison (a sales representative), 1994. Ethnicity: "Scots-Irish." Education: Concordia University, B.A., 1988, M.A. 1990; Dalhousie University, Ph.D., 1997. Religion: Protestant. Hobbies and other interests: Music, travel, sport.

ADDRESSES: Home—215-1575 Summerhill Ave., Montreal, Quebec H3H 1CS, Canada. Agent—c/o Author Mail, ECW Press, 2120 Queen St. E, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario M4E 1E2, Canada. E-mail—cmcgimpsey@sympatico.ca.

CAREER: Poet, fiction writer, journalist, and popular culture critic.

MEMBER: Association of Canadian University Teachers of English, Modern Language Association of America, Sports Literature Association, Quebec Writers' Federation, Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia.

AWARDS, HONORS: Clare Fooshee Memorial Award, 1993; Lyle Olsen Graduate Award for Sport Literature.

WRITINGS:

Lardcake (poetry), ECW Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1996.

Dogboy (poetry), ECW Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

Imagining Baseball: America's Pastime and Popular Culture, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 2000.

Hamburger Valley, California (poetry), ECW Press (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Television critic for a newspaper.

SIDELIGHTS: David McGimpsey once told CA:"I never planned it, but since my first published poems 'the batmann sonnets,' I have been turning a lifelong interest in American popular culture towards poetry. I like to believe I have come by this interest honestly, rather than with a preconceived notion of how my work will 'challenge' existing prejudices. Like many children of the seventies, I grew up watching television and now, as a poet, I am putting this 'education' into the context of real North American life. My work is not a simple celebration or critique of popular forms. Rather, I hope that by looking into both the well-known and the trivial to come to a fuller account of the joys and terrors in my own heart. The poets who most influenced me were the confessional poets (Plath in particular) and I continue to be attracted by poetry of strong personal voice.

"Whatever the general allusivity of my poetry, I still write poems that have nothing to do with TV or popular culture. However, because of the parodic matrix of most of my material, I find my tone moves quickly from the somber towards humor. If there is one thing that I am most pleased about in the reception of my work, it would be that so many have shared my sense of humor and have laughed at my poetry. I have worked as a television critic for a newspaper, but it is in poetry, where I feel that my experience with TV is most thoroughly expressed—perhaps this is due to poetry's place as the least commercially viable form of entertainment."