William Herbert New (born March 28, 1938) is a Canadian poet and literary critic.
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Early life and education
New was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was educated at John Oliver Secondary School, where he received one of the top matriculation exam scores in British Columbia in 1956. He also attended the University of British Columbia and the University of Leeds.
Career
He taught English literature at the University of British Columbia from 1965 to 2003, where he was also the assistant dean of graduate studies from 1975 to 1977, and an acting head of the English department. He also was an associate in 1971 at the University of Cambridge's Clare Hall.
On October 5, 2006, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada and was invested October 26, 2007.
For 29 years, he held editorial positions at Canadian Literature and, in 2004, was made editor emeritus.
Personal life
He is the son of John New and Edith New (nee Littlejohn).
On July 6, 1967, New married Margaret Elizabeth Frances Ebbs-Canavan.
He is the father of actor Peter New.
Selected works
Criticism
Malcolm Lowry — 1971
Articulating West — 1972
Among Worlds: An Introduction to Modern Commonwealth and South African Fiction — 1975
Malcolm Lowry: A Reference Guide — 1978
Dreams of Speech and Violence: The Art of the Short Story in Canada and New Zealand — 1987
A History of Canadian Literature — 1989
Land Sliding: Imagining Space, Presence & Power in Canadian Writing — 1997
Reading Mansfield and Metaphors of Form — 1999
The Encyclopedia of Canadian Literature — 2002
Grandchild of Empire: About Irony, Mainly in the Commonwealth — 2003
Poetry
Science Lessons — 1996
Raucous — 1999
Stone | Rain — 2001
Riverbook and Ocean — 2002
Night Room — 2003
Underwood Log — 2004
Touching Ecuador — 2006
Along a Snake Fence Riding — 2007
The Rope-maker's Tale — 2009
YVR — 2011
New & Selected Poems — 2015
Neighbors — 2017
In the Plague Year — 2021
Inventing What We Need to Know — 2025
Children's books
Vanilla Gorilla — 1998
Llamas in the Laundry — 2002
Dream Helmet — 2005
The Year I Was Grounded — 2008
Sam Swallow and the Riddleworld League — 2013
Anthologies edited
Four Hemispheres — 1971
Voice and Vision — 1972 (with Jack Hodgins)
Dramatists in Canada — 1972
Critical Writings on Commonwealth Literatures: A Bibliography — 1975
Modern Stories in English — 1975 (with H.J. Rosengarten)
Modern Canadian Essays — 1976
Margaret Laurence: The Writer and Her Critics — 1977
A Political Art: Essays and Images in Honour of George Woodcock — 1978
Active Voice — 1980 (with W.E. Messenger)
The Active Stylist — 1981 (with W.E. Messenger)
A 20th Century Anthology — 1984
Canadian Short Fiction — 1986
Canadian Writers Since 1960 — 1986
Canadian Writers Since 1960, 2nd series — 1987
Canadian Writers 1920-1959 — 1988
Canadian Writers 1920-1959, 2nd series — 1989
Native Writers and Canadian Writing — 1990
Canadian Writers Before 1890 — 1990
Canadian Writers 1890-1920 — 1990
Inside the Poem — 1992
Honours and awards
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada — 1986
Confederation of University Faculty Associations of BC Paz Buttedahl Career Achievement Award — 2001
Lorne Pierce Medal — 2004
Officer of the Order of Canada — 2006
Mayor's Award for Literary Arts in Vancouver — 2012
City of Vancouver Book Award — 2012
George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award — 2013