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Jeramy Dodds, poet (b at Ajax, Ont 4 Dec 1974). Jeramy Dodds has made his mark in literary circles since the publication of Crabwise to the Hounds in 2008. Raised in Orono, Ontario, Dodds began writing at the age of 18 and attended nearby Trent University where he studied English and anthropology. Dodds continued his studies at the University of Iceland, majoring in medieval Icelandic studies. He has travelled extensively and held a residency in Götland, Sweden at the Baltic Centre for Writers and Translators (2007). He has also taught creative writing at the University of New Brunswick (2009), and served as the writer-in-residence at Berton House Writers' Retreat in Dawson City, Yukon (2010).
Dodds' debut collection, Crabwise to the Hounds, was written over 7 years while the poet was travelling and living in Banff, Sweden and Greece. Published in 2008 by Coach House Books, Crabwise to the Hounds showcases Dodds' penchant for wit, as evidenced in the play of language and phrasing in poems such as "The Epileptic Acupuncturist." The collection also demonstrates his interest in other art forms, particularly in "Glenn Gould Negotiates the Danube in the Company of a Raven," as he experiments with musicality and rhythm. In a 2009 interview, Dodds states that the poem is his attempt to "translate" Bach's "Chromatic Fantasy in D-minor" from music to the written word. The collection does not espouse a particular viewpoint, or tell a particular story; instead, its purpose is to draw attention to language itself. It is Dodds' technical agility many critics point to in their praise of his work.
In 2006 Jeramy Dodds won the Writers' Trust RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. He also won the CBC Literary Award for Poetry in 2007. In 2009, Crabwise to the Hounds won the Trillium Book Award for Poetry and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award and the Griffin Poetry Prize. The Griffin Poetry Prize nomination was the first for a Canadian author's debut collection since Karen Solie's nomination in 2002.
