Jacob Scheier is a poet and journalist from Toronto. His debut collection, More to Keep Us Warm (ECW Press) won the 2008 Governor General’s award for English language poetry. Scheier’s poems have been published in literary journals and magazines across North America, including Descant, Geist and Rattle, and have been heard on CBC Radio. He is also the co-winner of New York Community Media Alliance Award for best feature article in an independent publication, and is a regular contributor to Toronto’s NOW Magazine. His latest poetry collection, Letter from Brooklyn, was published in Spring 2013 with ECW Press.
Jacob just completed being a resident at the Banff Centre’s literary journalism program. He is currently the Writer in Residence at Algoma University, St. Thomas location and independently facilitates workshops on writing creatively about grief.
You’re on a deserted island but luckily you found your three most favorite books, what are they?
Quickly: The Collected Kenneth Koch, To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf and Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
What phrase/quote would you (or do you!) have tattooed on your body?
I wouldn’t have a tattoo of a quote or phrase. I am much too transient in my outlooks, and besides there is a lot of free suffering out there so I don’t need to pay for pain. Though I will pick a favourite line, which is from Leonard Cohen song: “Love’s the only engine of survival.”
What contemporary writer excites you the most?
James Arthurs, a Canadian poet living in the U.S. is one of damn fine poet. Elizabeth Bachinsky and Ken Babstock also come to mind.
What color is the sky?
Mauve
