Robert Dickson (writer)

Template:Short description Template:Infobox writer Robert Dickson (July 23, 1944 – March 19, 2007)<ref name=cbc>"Franco-Ontarian poet Robert Dickson dies. CBC News, March 20, 2007. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref> was a Canadian poet, translator and academic. Born and raised in Erin, Ontario, he spent much of his life and career living in Sudbury.<ref name=globe>"Robert Dickson, Writer and Teacher 1944-2007". The Globe and Mail, April 12, 2007.</ref>

He studied French language and literature at the University of Toronto and Université Laval, receiving his doctorate in 1972,<ref name=globe /> and spent his academic career as a professor for the Department of French Studies and Translation at Laurentian University in Sudbury.<ref name=cbc /> He won the Governor General's Award for French language poetry in 2002, for his book Humains paysages en temps de paix relative (Template:ISBN).<ref>"Robert Dickson wins the 2002 Governor General's Literary Awards". Laurentian University, November 12, 2002.</ref>

His first poetry collection, Une bonne trentaine (Template:ISBN) was published by The Porcupine's Quill in 1975, the only French language work ever published by that company.<ref name=globe /> A poem from that collection, "Au nord de notre vie", was set to music by the folk rock group CANO, and came to be adopted as an anthem of Franco-Ontarian culture.<ref name=globe /> His later poetry collections, all published by Prise de parole, included Or(é)alité (1978, Template:ISBN), Abris nocturnes (1986, Template:ISBN), Grand ciel bleu par ici (1997, Template:ISBN) and Libertés provisoires (2005, Template:ISBN).

A compilation of his poetry, translated into English by Jo-Anne Elder, was published by Guernica Editions under the title Human Presences and Possible Futures (2013, Template:ISBN).

He also translated both French and English literary works, including English translations of works by Jean-Marc Dalpé and French translations of works by Tomson Highway<ref name=cbc /> and Lola Lemire Tostevin.<ref name=globe />

Over the course of his career, he was also awarded the Prix du CCRCF from the University of Ottawa's Centre for Research on French Canadian Culture<ref name=globe /> and the Prix Nouvel-Ontario,<ref name=globe /> and was named to the Ordre de la Pléiade in 2005.<ref name=globe />

Dickson died at his home in Sudbury on March 19, 2007, from brain cancer.<ref name=cbc />

Quotation

"Si je peux poser quelques pierre blanches

pour baliser le sentier à inventer,
je ne serais que très content,
croyant que j'ai ainsi fait quelque chose

de valable avec ma vie." — Robert Dickson <ref>"Robert Dickson n'est plus". Radio-Canada, March 19, 2007.</ref>