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For the New Zealand rugby union player, see Nelson Ball (rugby union).
Nelson Ball
BornJanuary 14, 1942
Clinton, Ontario
DiedAugust 16, 2019(2019-08-16) (aged 77)
Brantford, Ontario
OccupationPoet, Publisher, Bookseller
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian
GenrePoetry
SpouseBarbara Caruso (m. 1965)

Nelson Ball (January 14, 1942 – August 16, 2019) was a Canadian poet, editor, publisher, and bookseller.

Biography

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Nelson Ball was born in 1942 in Clinton, Ontario.[1] He attended the University of Waterloo where he worked as a reporter for the student newspaper, The Coryphaeus.[2] He worked at the Village Book Store in Toronto in the mid-1960s, and opened his own bookstore in 1972, first as William Nelson Books and later as Nelson Ball, Bookseller (beginning in 1985).[3][4]

Ball was married to artist, writer, and publisher Barbara Caruso. They lived in Kitchener, Toronto, and Paris, Ontario.[5] Catherine Stevenson produced a photo documentary about Ball and Caruso’s home in Paris, Ontario[6] and an accompanying documentary about Caruso’s art[7]

Ball died on August 16, 2019.[8] He chose a medically assisted death.[9]

Writing and editing

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As a publisher, he was responsible for landmark Canadian small press Weed/Flower Press (1965-1973).[10] Through Weed/Flower, Ball published 40 books, including work by George Bowering, Victor Coleman, bpNichol, John Newlove, William Hawkins, and David McFadden. As an editor, he was responsible for three literary magazines: Volume 63 (1963-1967), Weed (1966-1967), and Hyphid (1968).[11] Through his magazines, he published work by Margaret Atwood, Bruce Cockburn, David Donnell, Pat Lowther, Daphne Marlatt, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Al Purdy, Joe Rosenblatt, and many others.

As a poet, Ball published approximately 50 books and chapbooks during his lifetime, as well as dozens of leaflets and pieces of small press ephemera. His work was published by many presses including Ganglia,[12] Coach House,[13] ECW Press,[14] The Mercury Press,[15] Mansfield Press,[16] CURVD H&z,[17] and Proper Tales Press,[18] and in many magazines, including Blewointment,[19] El Corno Emplumado,[20] Hamilton Arts & Letters,[21] illiterature,[22] Spudburn,[23] The Ant’s Forefoot,[24] and The Café Review.[25] His poems have been published in translation in Chinese,[26] Romanian,[27] Nynorsk,[28] Russian,[29] and Swedish.[30]

Ball was renowned for his minimalism.[31][32] His poetry has been reviewed in Canadian and International journals, including Canadian Literature[33] and Poetry.[34] Frank Davey has written that Ball "is a poet of the minimal image; his poems, like the haiku, aim to combine the utmost economy with the sharpest possible visual clarity. They are brief, understated, and—on close scrutiny—explosive."[35] Ball has been profiled in Canadian Notes and Queries,[36] The Globe and Mail,[37] the Toronto Star,[38] and Essays on Canadian Writing.[39]

In 2016, Ball won the bpNichol Chapbook Award for the collection Small Waterways (Apt. 9 Press).[40] Also in 2016, he published a book of poems for children, A Vole on a Roll, which was illustrated by JonArno Lawson.[41] In 2017, his selected poems Certain Details (edited by Stuart Ross) was published by Wilfrid Laurier University Press in the Laurier Poetry Series.[42] In 2020, “The Nelson Ball Prize” was founded to honour “poetry of observation.”[43] To date, it has been won by Mark Truscott, Chantal Neveu (translated by Erin Moure), Pearl Pirie, and Cameron Anstee.[44]

His literary papers are held at the McMaster University Library.[45]

Selected publications

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  • Rooms of Clocks: Poems (1964–65). Kitchener: Weed/Flower press, 1965.
  • Beaufort’s Scale. Kitchener: Weed/Flower press, 1967.
  • Sparrows. Toronto: Weed/Flower press, 1968.
  • Force Movements. Toronto: Ganglia, 1969. [Second edition—Toronto: CURVD H&Z, 1990]
  • Water-Pipes & Moonlight. Toronto: Weed/Flower Press, 1969.
  • The Pre-Linguistic Heights. Toronto: The Coach House Press, 1970.
  • Points of Attention. With Barbara Caruso. Toronto: Weed/Flower Press, 1971.
  • Round Stone. Toronto: Weed/Flower Press, 1971.
  • Sparrows. Paris: presspresspress, 1990.
  • With Issa: Poems 1964-1971. Toronto: ECW Press, 1991.
  • Sightings. Toronto: CURVD H&Z, 1992.
  • Bird Tracks on Hard Snow. Toronto: ECW Press, 1994.
  • Round Table. twobitter 62. Toronto: Letters, 1996.
  • The Concrete Air. Stratford: The Mercury Press, 1996.
  • Almost Spring. Toronto: The Mercury Press, 1999.
  • A Gathering. Paris: Rubblestone Press, 2003. [Second edition—Toronto: BookThug, 2014]
  • Scrub Cedar. Ottawa: above/ground press, 2003.
  • At the Edge of the Frog Pond. Toronto: The Mercury Press, 2004.
  • Three-Letter Words. Mount Pleasant: Laurel Reed Books / Paris: Rubblestone Press, 2006.
  • In This Thin Rain. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2012.
  • The Continuous Present. Cobourg: Proper Tales Press, 2012.
  • Minutiae. Ottawa: Apt. 9 Press, 2014.
  • A Rattle of Spring Frogs. Hamilton: HA&L / samizdat press, 2014.
  • You Must Look Hard to See What’s There. Portland, Oregon: press-press-pull, 2014.
  • Some Mornings. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2014.
  • All and Everything. Mount Pleasant: Laurel Reed Books, 2015.
  • Small Waterways. Ottawa: Apt. 9 Press, 2015.
  • This Close to Being a Tree. Delhi: Monk Press, 2015.
  • Chewing Water. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2016.
  • A Vole on a Roll. With JonArno Lawson. Dundas: Shapes & Sounds Press, 2016.
  • You Can’t Make the Sky a Different Blue. Sarnia: Big Pond Rumours Press, 2017.
  • Walking with Catherine at Lake Erie. Paris: Rubblestone Press, 2016. [Second edition—Dundas: Shapes & Sounds Press, 2017)
  • Certain Details: The Poetry of Nelson Ball. Selected with an Introduction by Stuart Ross. Laurier Poetry Series. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2017.
  • Walking. Toronto: Mansfield Press, 2017.
  • A Letter to Amanda Bernstein and a Checklist of Weed/Flower Press. Ottawa: Apt. 9 Press, 2019.
  • 54. [Swedish Translation by Charlotte Jung and Eva Ribich.] Gothenburg, Sweden: Trombone, 2022.

References

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  1. ^ "Nelson Ball Fonds". McMaster University Library Research Collections. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  2. ^ "Nelson Ball fonds | McMaster University Library". library.mcmaster.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  3. ^ Anstee, Cameron Alistair Owen (2017). Make Contact: Contributive Bookselling and the Small Press in Canada Following the Second World War (Thesis thesis). Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa.
  4. ^ admin (2016-12-07). "The Antiquarium, Vol. 3: Nelson Ball interviewed by Jason Dickson". CNQ. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  5. ^ "A renowned poet in our midst – The PMHS Blog". Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  6. ^ Nelson Ball & Barbara Caruso / Home Project / A Photo Documentary, retrieved 2022-12-12
  7. ^ Barbara Caruso: A Life's Work, retrieved 2022-12-12
  8. ^ "Nelson Ball (1942–2019)". Cameron Anstee. 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  9. ^ "Bloggamooga: Nelson Ball, 1942 – 2019: His last day". Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  10. ^ "Weed/Flower Press Collection". The University of Sheffield. The University Library. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  11. ^ Anstee, Cameron (2018). "An Index of Nelson Ball's Little Magazines: Volume 63 (1963–1967), Weed (1966–1967), and Hyphid (1968)". Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada. 56 (1/2): 75–117. doi:10.33137/pbsc.v56i1/2.29566. ISSN 2562-8941. S2CID 199137044.
  12. ^ Ball, Nelson (1969). Force Movements : 1966/1969. Ganglia Press.
  13. ^ jwc 3o2 (2012-01-04), THE PRE-LINGUISTIC HEIGHTS, retrieved 2022-12-12{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "With Issa: Poems 1964-1971". ECW Press. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  15. ^ Ball, Nelson (1996). The Concrete Air. Mercury Press. ISBN 978-1-55128-040-0.
  16. ^ "Mansfield Press | Nelson Ball". Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  17. ^ jwc 3o2 (2015-12-31), SIGHTINGS, retrieved 2022-12-12{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ jwc 3o2 (2016-01-10), THE CONTINUOUS PRESENT, retrieved 2022-12-12{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Blewointment". JSTOR. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  20. ^ Kajava, Viljo; et al. (1966). "El Corno Emplumado". JSTOR. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  21. ^ "HA&L Cover a chapbook of Poetry by Nelson Ball". HA&L Chapbook A Rattle Of Spring Frogs by Nelson Ball. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  22. ^ "Chapbooks". Puddles of Sky Press. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  23. ^ jwc 3o2 (2011-12-28), SPUDBURN 9, retrieved 2022-12-12{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Wakoski, Diane; Eshleman, Clayton; Coleman, Victor; Chaloner, David; Crump, Ray; Raworth, Tom; Harwood, Lee; Malanga, Gerard; Gitin, David; Hewko, Kati; Rosenberg, David; Eichele, Robin; Davis, Scott; Ball, Nelson; Kearns, Lionel; McFadden, David; Cott, Jonathan; Heliczer, Piero (1969). "The Ant's Forefoot". JSTOR. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  25. ^ kbenedict (2019-04-19). "Canadian Spring 2019 Issue of The Café Review". The Cafe Review. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  26. ^ jwc 3o2 (2015-12-29), JOURNAL OF LANZHOU UNIVERSITY 3, retrieved 2022-12-12{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ "Poeti Canadieni Contemporani". Small Press Bookshelf on Instagram. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  28. ^ "2017". nordmoremallag (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  29. ^ "Transcontinental Ether: 30 Contemporary Poets in Translation". Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  30. ^ "Titlar". trombone.se. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  31. ^ briefpoems (2022-07-07). "Cement Angels – Brief poems by Nelson Ball". Brief Poems. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  32. ^ "Coming to Presence: An Introduction to Nelson Ball by R. Bruce Elder 3". Fall Winter Hamilton Arts & Letters magazine issue six.2. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
  33. ^ "A Quarterly of Criticism and Review". Canadian Literature. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  34. ^ Doyle, Mike (1972). Lochhead, Douglas; Souster, Raymond; Nichol, B. P.; Yates, J. Michael; Colombo, John Robert; Ondaatje, Michael; Cull, David; Kearns, Lionel; Jonas, George (eds.). "Made in Canada?". Poetry. 119 (6): 356–362. ISSN 0032-2032. JSTOR 20595562.
  35. ^ Davey, Frank (1974). From There to Here: A Guide to English-Canadian Literature Since 1960. Beach Holme Publishers, Limited. ISBN 978-0-88878-036-2.
  36. ^ admin (2016-12-07). "The Antiquarium, Vol. 3: Nelson Ball interviewed by Jason Dickson". CNQ. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  37. ^ Kritzwiser, Kay (February 16, 1972). ""The beautiful small books from Ball and Caruso."". The Globe and Mail. p. 15.
  38. ^ Fetherling, Douglas (June 7, 1974). ""Canadian poetry publishing house closes."". The Toronto Star.
  39. ^ David, Jack (Spring 1976). ""Weed Flower Press."". Essays on Canadian Writing (4): 34–41.
  40. ^ "Awards: Nelson Ball wins bpNichol Chapbook Award - Quill and Quire". Quill and Quire - Canada's magazine of book news and reviews. 2016-11-21. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  41. ^ Ball, Nelson (2016). A Vole on a Roll. Shapes & Sounds. ISBN 978-0-9952558-0-7.
  42. ^ Certain Details.
  43. ^ "Stuart Ross to launch Nelson Ball Prize for Canadian poetry - Quill and Quire". Quill and Quire - Canada's magazine of book news and reviews. 2020-01-29. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  44. ^ "The Nelson Ball Prize". nelsonballprize.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  45. ^ "Nelson Ball fonds | McMaster University Library". library.mcmaster.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
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