Biography
Jenna Butler was born in Norwich, England in 1980, but has spent most of her life on the prairies of Western Canada. The varied landscapes of the prairies and mountains - their intense harshness and incredible richness - feature prominently in her poetry and fiction. Her work has garnered a number of awards, including the James Patrick Folinsbee Prize, and has been produced by the CBC. Her poetry has appeared in Jones Av., Nthposition, Leaf Press, Pandora's Collective, The T.S. Review, Persephone's Sisters (Rowan Books, 2000), Otherwheres (Pen & Inc. Press, 2005), The Moosehead Anthology X: Future Welcome (DC Books, 2005), String to Bow (Leaf Press, 2005), Grain, CV2, Writing the Land: Alberta Through Its Poets (House of Blue Skies, 2007), Home and Away (House of Blue Skies, 2009), and A Verdant Green (The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box Press, 2010), among others. Butler is the author of three short collections of poetry, Forcing Bloom, weather, and Winter Ballast, in addition to a new trade collection from NeWest Press, Aphelion.
Butler is a member of the League of Canadian Poets. She has participated in many League events over the years, including readings, judging writing competitions, Random Acts of Poetry and mentorship programs for young poets. She was the League's inaugural Online Poet in Residence in January of 2007.
Closer to home, Butler was a board member for the Edmonton Poetry Festival in both its inaugural year, 2006, and again in 2008/09. She has performed her work widely, both on the air and onstage, for audiences in Canada and Europe. She sits on the editorial committee for Edmonton's Olive Reading Series, where she also serves as Treasurer, and is the Founding Editor of Rubicon Press.
Butler holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees (distinction) from the University of Alberta, in addition to a Master's degree in Creative Writing: Poetry (distinction) from Europe's most renowned creative writing school, the University of East Anglia (UEA). She is currently completing her Doctorate of Philosophy from UEA under the supervision of poets Denise Riley and George Szirtes.
Jenna Butler makes her home in Edmonton, Alberta, where she teaches at Grant MacEwan University. She divides her time between Canada and England in order to remain active in both literary communities, to teach, and to promote the international work of Rubicon Press.