About Lorraine

Lorraine Gane was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and grew up in Toronto. She began writing poetry in her mid-teens, and after high school attended Carleton University’s journalism program in Ottawa for four years. She worked as a full-time writer and editor for major Canadian newspapers and magazines, including The Windsor Star and Toronto Life, before becoming a freelancer in the late `80s. In the early `90s, she began teaching at universities and colleges such as Ryerson, McMaster, and Georgian, as well as conducting her own private workshops. Nearing completion of her first collection of poems, she moved to Salt Spring Island, B.C. Selections from Even the Slightest Touch Thunders on My Skin (Black Moss Press, 2002), about the illness and death of her fiancé from cancer, were short listed for the CBC literary awards and The League of Canadian poets chapbook contest. Earth Light and The Phantom Orchid, two chapbooks about her experiences on the West Coast, followed. A third, chapbook, Beyond Beauty: Songs of Small Mercies, was published by Leaf Press in 2012. In addition to teaching writing courses for The University of Victoria, Vancouver Island University, and her own private workshops, Lorraine began mentoring writers around the world through online courses and one-on-one consultations. She also edits book manuscripts for publishers and individual writers. The Blue Halo (Leaf Press) and The Way the Light Enters (Black Moss Press) were published in 2014. She is now working on a fourth poetry collection, as well as essays, articles, and a book on writing.

Awards

Ontario Poetry Association Award, 2007; Canadian Literary Awards, Finalist, 1997; Finalist, League of Canadian Poets chapbook contest, finalist 1999, This Magazine, finalist, 2000.

Selected Publications

The Blue Halo (Leaf press, 2014) ISBN 978-1-926655-77-2; The Way the Light Enters (Black Moss Press, 2014) ISBN 978-0-88753-536-9; Beauty and Beyond: Songs of Small Mercies (Leaf Press, 2012) ISBN 978-1-926655-42-0; The Phantom Orchid (Blooming Ground Press, 2007) ISBN 978-0-98091-0-4; Even the Slightest Touch Thunders on My Skin (Black Moss Press, 2002) ISBN 0-88753-366-3. Earth Light (Golden Bough Press, 2001).

Selected Anthologies

Rocksalt (Mother Tongue Publishing, 2008); Arborealis, the Ontario Poetry Society, 2008; Monday’s Poem, Leaf Press website, 2008, We’Moon Calendar, 2007, Swimming in the Ocean at Night (Leaf Press, 2003); Poets Against the War (www.poetsagainstthewar.org, 2003).

Books in Print

The Blue Halo (Leaf press, 2014) ISBN 978-1-926655-77-2; The Way the Light Enters (Black Moss Press, 2014) ISBN 978-0-88753-536-9; Beauty and Beyond: Songs of Small Mercies (Leaf Press, 2012) ISBN 978-1-926655-42-0; The Phantom Orchid, poetry chapbook (Blooming Ground Press, 2007) ISBN 978-0-98091-0-4, $20; Even the Slightest Touch Thunders on My Skin, Poetry (Black Moss Press, 2002) ISBN 0-88753-366-3, $17.95, Earth Light, poetry chapbook (Golden Bough Press, 2001), $20