Edward A. Lacey | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1937 July 12 Lindsay,Ontario |
| Died | 1995 Toronto,Ontario |
| Occupation | poet, translator |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Period | 1960s-1990s |
| Notable works | The Forms of Life,Path of Snow: Poems 1951-73,Later,Third World: Travel Poems,The Delight of Hearts, or What You Will Not Find in Any Book |
Edward A. Lacey (1937-1995)[1] was aCanadian poet and translator, who was credited with publishing the first openlygay-identified collection of poetry in the history ofCanadian literature.[1]
Born inLindsay,Ontario, Lacey studied French and German at theUniversity of Toronto[2] before moving toTexas to pursue an M.A. in linguistics at theUniversity of Texas at Austin.[1] While there, he was the roommate ofRandy Wicker, who ran for president of the student union but was disqualified when the university president learned that Wicker and Lacey were gay.[2] Shortly before his graduation, he was arrested for transportingmarijuana across the U.S.-Mexican border, and received his degree in absentia.[3]
Throughout his career he worked as a translator and taught literature and English as a second language in Mexico, Trinidad, Brazil, Greece and Thailand, including a stint as a private tutor to former Brazilian presidentJuscelino Kubitschek.[3] He also held academic positions at theUniversity of Alberta and theUniversity of the West Indies.[3] He publishedThe Forms of Life, the first gay-identified book of poetry published in Canada, in 1965.[3] The book was financed byDennis Lee andMargaret Atwood.[4]
His later volumes of poetry includedPath of Snow: Poems 1951-73 (1974),Later (1978) andThird World: Travel Poems (1994).[3] A posthumous collection,The Collected Poems and Translations of Edward A. Lacey (2000), was also published.[3] His poetry also appears in the anthologiesGay Roots: Twenty Years of Gay Sunshine, An Anthology of Gay History: Sex, Politics & Culture (1991) andSeminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Male Poets (2007).
Throughout his career, Lacey also wrote many letters to friends, including Wicker,Winston Leyland,Henry Beissel,John Robert Colombo andIan Young; his letters to Beissel were edited byDavid Helwig for publication inA Magic Prison: Letters from Edward Lacey (1995).[3] He published translations into English from French, Spanish, and Portuguese, includingThe Delight of Hearts, or What You Will Not Find in Any Book, a 1988 publication of the poetry ofAhmad al-Tifashi.[5]The Delight of Hearts won aLambda Literary Award in 1989.
While working inThailand, Lacey suffered life-threatening injuries in 1991 when he passed out drunk in a street inBangkok and was run over by a vehicle.[3] He was transported back to Canada, where he remained largely bedridden in arooming house inToronto until his death in 1995.[3]
AuthorFraser Sutherland published a biography of Lacey,Lost Passport: The Life and Words of Edward Lacey, in 2011.[6]
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