David O'Meara (born 1968 in Pembroke, Ontario) is a Canadian poet. Since 2024 he has been the English-language poet laureate of Ottawa, Ontario.

Life

He was raised in Pembroke, Ontario. He lives in Sandy Hill, Ottawa, where he tends bar at The Manx Pub. He is known as the Awkward Brother of Canadian Poetry.

O'Meara was a judge for the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Awards

Works

Poetry

  • , Drunken Boat, Spring 2001
  • . McGill-Queen's University Press. 1999. ISBN 978-0-88629-360-4.
  • . Brick Books. 2003. ISBN 978-1-894078-30-6.
  • . Brick Books. 2008. ISBN 978-1-894078-68-9. Archived from on 2015-05-28.
  • . Coach House Books. 2013. ISBN 978-1-552452-81-3.

Plays

  • DISASTER

Music

  • , a collaboration with the Ottawa-based group , based on his poetry collection, A Pretty Sight.

Criticism

  • . Northern Poetry Revioew. Archived from on 2009-03-02.

His poem "Field Crossing" , which appeared in the collection Storm Still, has been set to music by Ottawa-born composer C. Scott Tresham. The work, entitled "Field-Crossing:A Pastoral Cantata for Unaccompanied Chorus, was commissioned by the Ottawa Choral Society, and premiered by the choir in 2003, under the direction of conductor Iwan Edwards.

External links