Colleen Thibaudeau

Colleen Thibaudeau, poet and short story-writer (born at Toronto 29 Dec 1925; died at London, Ont 6 Feb 2012). She was raised in St Thomas, Ont, and educated at the University of Toronto, where she was influenced by Margaret Avison and completed a master's thesis on contemporary Canadian poetry in 1949; in 1951 she married poet and playwright James Reaney.

Colleen Thibaudeau's first book, Lozenges: Poems in the Shapes of Things, appeared in 1965, followed by two collections that gave her a wide readership: Ten Letters (1975) and My Granddaughters Are Combing Out Their Long Hair (1977). Her poetry celebrates the extraordinary nature of ordinary life by combining the everyday with the otherworldly. Within domestic landscapes objects often serve as poetic catalysts, leading the speaker to a greater recognition of the interconnectedness of people and things.

In The Martha Landscapes (1984) Colleen Thibaudeau explores an intimate personal history inspired by domestic objects. She draws together themes of mutability, time and the creative act inspired by memories of preserve making or a grandmother's voice.

She continued her interest in memory in The "Patricia" Album (1992): a series of lyrical poems about a boat, The Patricia, and its owners, inspired by a photograph album found in a second-hand store.

The Artemesia Book (1991), a collection of new and selected poems, was published in 1991.