A short introduction
Ward Maxwell was one of the ringleaders of the group known as the Peterborough Poets (which included, among others, Maggie Helwig, Richard Harrison, Michael Dennis and Betsy Struthers) who sprang up at Trent University in the late 1970s. The Poets were known for their emphasis on performance – their shows were usually in one of the university bars, often unannounced. Poetry was spoken, often shouted from table tops and the crowd was encouraged to approve or shout down the poets.
Along with Riley Tench, often writing in tandem as Dr. Who and Mr. Wher, Ward published a series of chapbooks and hand-stitched volumes of poetry during the late 1970’s.
In 1978 Ward was one of the three winners of Harbourfront’s Discovery reading competition – judged by Mary di Michele, Brian Flack, and John Robert Columbo. During the 1990’s, Ward’s work was published in CV2, Rampike. Poetry Toronto, and a number of Toronto ‘zines including Elvis Car (edited by Lillian Necakov). Ward also wrote, composed and performed 12 satiric songs for CBC Radio’s Sunday Morning & As it Happens during that time. Recently, three of his scratch photos were featured in Uppercase magazine #55.
Ward was born in Toronto, and lives there with his wife and son.
Ward’s poetry is what might be called Romantic Intellectualism, combining language play with a whimsical Barthian analysis of everyday objects and places — geraniums in a window box, for example, or the beaches where families holiday in the summer — with a compassionate eye that prioritizes human relationships, love, and grief. Ward’s poems are all kidding — and they’re not. Maxwell examines the inherent contradictions between meaning and communication, time and aging, what we believe and what is, then allows these contradictions to take us to ordinary places made new again. His poetry is for those who want to see things in a new way because the punchline is a changed world.