Susan Ioannou holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature in 1966, and a Master of Arts in English Literature in 1967 from the University of Toronto.
Susan Ioannou holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature in 1966, and a Master of Arts in English Literature in 1967 from the University of Toronto.
(The poems move from anticipation, and sorrow for loss bef...)
The poems move from anticipation, and sorrow for loss before birth, through the tender baby years, the humour, bustle, and worry of childhood, to the stresses of adolescence, and the mixed emotions of an eventual empty nest.
(In this revised and expanded digital edition, the first h...)
In this revised and expanded digital edition, the first half of the book, Familiar Faces, presents a variety of familiar individuals: from an elegant single woman and a middle-aged school teacher, through students, writers, a convalescent, unhappy insurance adjuster, artistic duo, desperate gardener, and grandmothers, to old Greek men sharing coffee in the mall.
(In Clarity Between Clouds, Susan Ioannou’s disarmingly in...)
In Clarity Between Clouds, Susan Ioannou’s disarmingly intimate voice strikes piercingly close to the harsh realities of existence, revealing startling insights and sly bits of aphoristic wisdom.
("Throughout, she grapples with large issues: What gives l...)
"Throughout, she grapples with large issues: What gives life meaning? How does the spirit survive evil? Can permanence and flux be reconciled? As accurate to violets and a cedar fence post as to oil spills, steel beams, and the raw edge of pain, ultimately her writing is optimistic, reaching through the personal 'I' toward a compassionate universality."
("Poetry is an art often clouded in mystery. A Magical Clo...)
"Poetry is an art often clouded in mystery. A Magical Clockwork reveals the subtle mechanisms that make a poem tick...With illustrations from our own talented poets, A Magical Clockwork stands uniquely, proudly Canadian, a boon to readers and poets alike."
("Written in a rich variety of voices, these colourful nar...)
"Written in a rich variety of voices, these colourful narratives begin with a little girl’s weekend in an artist’s home, then shiver from a “Giant-Lady’s” wintry farm, to summer dining in a mansion and a boy’s exotic lunches on a neighbour’s porch. A university student delights in her debonair 'older man', a corporate executive rediscovers romance, an immigrant’s daughter searches for a lost homeland, and women challenged by advancing years cope each in her unique way. Realistic, bizarre, funny, or touching, the stories in Nine to Ninety promise a potpourri of diverting reading."
("When his friend Gunnar discovers a $100 bill in a hidden...)
"When his friend Gunnar discovers a $100 bill in a hidden valley just north of Toronto's Don Valley Golf Course, Mike Steriou thinks his dream can come true: owning a genuine Explorer sleeping bag for the autumn Scout camp near Alliston, Ontario. However, a near-tragic accident for pal Tuan, unpleasant new neighbours across the street, two vicious dogs, a break-in at his uncle's Danforth printing shop, and other exciting events gradually piece the high-tech puzzle together, until Mike and his buddies daringly bring three criminals to justice."
(These pages bring ample light and balm, support and inspi...)
These pages bring ample light and balm, support and inspiration. What’s more, there’s laughter too, as fable and satire poke gentle fun at foibles and absurdities on the literary scene, and remind all writers of the importance of holding true.
(Combining research and wonder, this book burrows deeper—t...)
Combining research and wonder, this book burrows deeper—the first collection of poems in Canada devoted exclusively to geology and mining. Quite literally, it goes underground. First published in 2007 as Looking Through Stone: Poems about the Earth, this updated edition also includes a glossary.
(In a deeply troubled world, Ioannou asks how can a poet “...)
In a deeply troubled world, Ioannou asks how can a poet “Make it beautiful”, as her Muse insists. Looking for Light attempts to answer, travelling through place and time and the arts, exploring the realms of God and nature, and pondering what is to come as life grows shorter.
(Meet women you could long to know, each moving through he...)
Meet women you could long to know, each moving through her own life's dance, some with clarity and momentary success, others caught mid-step, and many yearning to find their unique rhythms.
Susan Ioannou is a Canadian poet and writer. Her poetry collections include "Clarity Between Clouds" (1991), "Where the Light Waits" (1996), "Looking for Light" (2016), and "Poems on Geology, Metals, Minerals, and Mining" (2017), in addition to the literary study "A Magical Clockwork: The Art of Writing the Poem" (2000).
Background
Susan Ioannou was born on October 4, 1944, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her passion for words came from a literate father who made it a point to park on her bed for a while each night when she was a child, initiating rich talks on one subject or another, most often astronomy.
Susan Ioannou worked as a poetry instructor for the Continuing Education Department, Toronto District School Board, Ontario, Canada, in 1982-1994. She was founder, director, and literary editor at Wordwrights Canada, Toronto. She also was a poetry instructor at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, in 1989-1990, and created and ran the correspondence course The Poetry Tutorial, in 1988-1991, redesigned as the online course Lessons in Writing the Poem, and gave poetry workshops for the Ryerson Literary Society, 1993, 1996. Ioannou was managing editor of Coiffure du Canada, during 1979-1980. She also served as poetry editor for the Arts Scarborough Newsletter, in 1980-1985. She worked as associate editor of Cross Canada Writers' Quarterly/Magazine, 1980-1989, and was a coeditor at Poemata, 1988-89. She has been executive editor of ClearTEXT Rewriting and Editing since 1995. She has also presented writing workshop and been a guest on media programs.
Ioannou began her literary career in the mid-1980s with various works of poetry, including Motherpoems, which Louise Longo, in a Books in Canada appraisal, described as a work that "successfully explores both sides of motherhood." Longo, while reporting that "many of the poems are in need of ruthless editing," noted "the range of emotional responses to motherhood that Ioannou captures", and she concluded her review by commenting that Motherpoems expresses "something that needs to be said." A later collection, Clarity between Clouds: Poems of Midlife, was described by Jon Kertzer in a Canadian Literature review as a book that "celebrates the power of light and sight." He added: "Rooms, memories, and events compose themselves like works of art. In each case, the moment inspires a luminous apprehension associated with love, grace, ease, or certainty." In Where the Light Waits Ioannou presents what Chris Knight appraised in the Canadian Book Review Annual 1997 as "wide-ranging poems" on subjects such as nature, natural phenomena, and the cosmos. Knight acknowledged the contents of Where the Light Waits as "thought-provoking" poems.
Ioannou's other poetry collections include Looking for Light and Poems on Geology, Metals, Minerals, and Mining: for the Love of Rocks. About Read-Aloud Poems, intended for students from the elementary grades to high school, Canadian Review of Materials reviewer Maryleah Otto observed that it "contains a wide range of styles and themes." Of Ioannou's children's novel, Karen Shewbridge wrote in the St. John's Telegram: "A Real Farm Girl is a glorious reading experience for a young girl or boy."
Ioannou has also produced various works in which she offers instruction on writing. Among these volumes is The Crafted Poem: A Step by Step Guide to Writing and Appreciation. Canadian Review of Materials reviewer Gail Lennon observed that "The Crafted Poem offers a host of excellent ideas," and she called it "a must for every budding writer." Another volume, Writing Reader-Friendly Poems: More Than 50 Rules of Thumb for Clearer Communication, received a recommendation from Canadian Review of Materials reviewer Louise Reimer, who stated, "Even experienced writers will benefit from Ioannou's concrete suggestions."
Another book, A Magical Clockwork: The Art of Writing the Poem, was also well received by critics. In Word, Rob Thomas wrote of Ioannou: "She is a wonderful instructor: her tone is familiar rather than academic, her analysis is fluid and clear, and examples are brief and apt. Perhaps most importantly, Ioannou lives up to her own principle - inherited from the Imagist tradition - that ‘precise, concrete language is the foundation of vivid writing.’"
("Poetry is an art often clouded in mystery. A Magical Clo...)
2000
Views
When first becoming serious about writing poetry, Ioannou read through numerous Canadian literary magazines at the library, liked some poems, was critical of others, and struggled to define the differences between them. A pet peeve has been postmodernism. “I believe in poetry that is reader-friendly,” she said. “I have no patience with literary fashion, the esoteric, the avant-garde, that which is so private it closes itself off from the rest of us.” Many modern poets are, in her opinion, intellectual sheep, following the latest fashion, a “chic mentality”. Her own approach is to select, expand, rearrange and edit raw inspiration to create a new whole, one she says that is open and accessible and engages the total reader: emotions, ideas, and senses. Reader-friendly poetry seeks not to puzzle, not to preach, but to share.
Quotations:
"I began writing in grade two," Susan Ioannou told Rand Bellavia in an Ink Spot online interview, "as soon as I had mastered enough words and approximate spelling to get my ideas across." She added, "To me, creating another world out of words was fun. It still is... Writing makes me happy."
"Whenever I write poetry, I am relentlessly dissatisfied. Again and again, I try (and fail) to reach one ideal: In the largest meaning of the word, to be true. I admire any poet who can teach me how to give words a nugget's solid brilliance, how to make lines stretch or snap, how to lift a poem on a shout or a song. I am always searching for a poem that can instruct and amaze me. This search drove my literary study A Magical Clockwork."
"The Merla Poems is a limited-edition chapbook created to honor a friendship of more than three decades between two women for whom finding beauty is essential. Art, architecture, travel, or simply the sharing of intimate conversation over a glass of wine in a cozy café - these have remained their inspiration and solace. While the poems stand on their own, for readers who are curious about the where and why of composition, an introduction provides the requisite glimpses into two private lives."
“I believe in the integrity of little things,” Ioannou once said. “That’s why it’s important for a poet to remain quiet enough to hear.”
“For a while, people complained that my poetry was dark and sad,” Ioannou says. “It was true. I had my private grief. In the space of about two years, I lost six loved ones. What I tried to do in that period, on paper, was universalize my feelings, make them accessible to others and perhaps provide a bit of hope and help for those in similar situations.”
“The best way to learn something is to have to teach it,” she says. “Reading student work gqve me new insights into the craft of writing poetry.”
Membership
In the past, Ioannou's memberships also included the Plain Language Association International, Canadian Poetry Association, The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, and Editors' Association of Canada.
The League of Canadian Poets
,
Canada
1991 - present
The Writers' Union of Canada
,
Canada
1996 - present
Personality
Much of the time, seeking calm to reflect and write, Ioannou enjoys being alone. Literary events hold little appeal. Late nights are usually avoided. Public adulation provides neither inspiration nor motivation for this writer, and she agrees to public readings only from time to time when publishers expect them.
Quotes from others about the person
"Ioannou sings the praises of human nature and its strong ability to learn through hardships... an experienced poet who possesses a gift for expressing emotions that surface in the most unexpected situations. The most ordinary details of life, such as balance sheets and kitchen decor, become inquiries into human thought and reflections of very real, accessible feelings." - Carol Holland, Vox Magazine
"Ioannou's poems are straightforward, mostly narrative and primarily descriptive. They are readily accessible and written in simple language. Beyond geological terms, they contain no arcane words, contorted structures, convoluted metaphors or complex imagery, nor do they contain jingling rhymes. Like the rocks they describe, these poems are direct and uncompromising. The world of bioscience has long had its poets; anthologies abound with fine word-paintings of animals and plants. The world of geoscience is much overdue for similar treatment and spotlight. In this collection, Susan Ioannou has made a valuable contribution to this enterprise. And, along the way, she amply succeeds in showing us different ways to look through the stone." - Alwynne B. Beaudoin, GEOLOG, The Newsmagazine of the Geological Association of Canada.
"Ioannou imparts gentle lessons in humanity in her stories, relating them with clear prose and humor... also draws our attention to assumptions individuals make about themselves and each other." - J. Lynn Fraser, Canadian Materials.
"Ioannou gives strength and form to the life experiences our puny bones endure. She continues her process of writing poetry as meditation, drawing details of everyday life, and in doing so she suggests that perhaps there is greater meaning to our existence than we might imagine. She pushes us to stretch our mind and consider other places, other people, and life beyond the television or the thought boxes we lock ourselves into." - Annis Karpenko, Artist, Executive Director of Visual Arts Mississauga
Connections
In private life Susan Ioannou is a widow and mother to a daughter and a son.