Kevin Spenst is the author of the poetry collections Jabbering with Bing Bong (Anvil Press, 2015), Ignite (Anvil Press 2016), Hearts Amok: A Memoir in Verse (Anvil Press 2020) and A Bouquet Brought Back from Space (Anvil Press 2024) along with 16 chapbooks, including Recto Verso Chez the Devil’s Printers (co-written with Josh Pitre for Collusion Books), A Video Tape Swaddled in Purple Wool (845 Press) and Sand in the Bed (a holm with the Alfred Gustav Press). His most recent writing has appeared in the anthologies Event 50: Collected Notes on Writing and Resonance: Essays on the Craft and Life of Writing. His book launch during the pandemic was featured in a book about creative practices: The Creative Instigator's Handbook. In 2019, he was writer-in-residence at the Joy Kogawa House. His work has won the Lush Triumphant Award for Poetry, been nominated for both the Alfred G. Bailey Prize and the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry, and has appeared in dozens of publications including Event, the Malahat Review, subTerrain magazine, Prairie Fire, CV2, the Rusty Toque, Lemon Hound, Poetry is Dead, and the anthologies Best Canadian Poetry 2019, Best Canadian Poetry 2020 and Sweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds. He is an occasional co-host at Wax Poetic on Co-op Radio. He writes chapbook reviews for subTerrain magazine, teaches creative writing at Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Community College and lives in Vancouver on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory.
I do poetry presentations in high schools and I often give talks at universities and colleges. I'm always keen to learn something new.
I've given writing workshops across the country for beginners or more experienced writers.
I've given dozens of workshops over the past five years in high schools all around the lower mainland. We read poetry, do some writing exercises and then end by making small chapbooks.
