Poetry and science don\u2019t often go together, but a Brock University professor has made a name for himself by merging the two.<\/p>\n
When CBC announced the 2016 Poetry Prize shortlist last month, Prof. Adam Dickinson\u2019s poem The Metabolites<\/em> made the cut.<\/p>\n The Metabolites<\/em> is part of a book he is working on that explores the body and its relationship to its environment on a microbial level. Dickinson\u2019s current work focuses on chemical pollution and its effects on the human body.<\/p>\n \u201cOur bodies are ultimately much more permeable than we think,\u201d he says. \u201cRather than just look at the adverse effects of toxic chemicals, I also wanted to consider the necessary ways the body is written over by its environment in the form of microbes as a means of maintaining general health.\u201d<\/p>\n He describes the book he is working on as \u201ca chemical\/microbial autobiography that will emerge \u2026 from a toxicological and symbiotic map of my own body.\u201d<\/p>\n Dickinson uses himself as a guinea pig, conducting a series of blood and urine tests and skin swabs of various body parts to test for pollutants.<\/p>\n The Metabolites<\/em> comes from test results for chemicals used in synthetic fragrances.<\/p>\n Dickinson\u2019s poetry explores areas of language that usually don\u2019t belong to poetry, particularly the language of science. His previous book, Polymers <\/em>(2013) explores the intersection between poetry and science by comparing our world and lifestyle with the structures and behaviours of polymers. His work brings together the materials and approaches of science and literature to reexamine how we view each other and the world.<\/p>\n He is attracted to poetry as a way of reimaging what constitutes writing.<\/p>\n \u201cPoetry can shift frames of signification and make things matter that don\u2019t otherwise matter. It is a way of looking at the world according to reimagined parameters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Dickinson, who teaches poetics and creative writing, has had work published in literary journals and anthologies in Canada and internationally. All three of his books of poetry have been nominated for awards. The Polymers<\/em> was a finalist for both the 2013 Governor General\u2019s Award for Poetry and the 2014 Trillium Book Award for Poetry. Kingdom, Phylum<\/em> (2006) and Cartography and Walking<\/em> (2002) were also both nominated for national and provincial writing awards.<\/p>\n The 2016 CBC Poetry Prize shortlist of five poets was chosen by a jury of Roo Borson, George Elliott Clarke, and Erin Moure from more than 1,300 entries. Michael Fraser won the 2016 grand prize for his poem \u201cAfrican Canadian in Union Blue.\u201d The winner received $6,000 from Canada Council of the Arts, publication in Air Canada\u2019s enRoute<\/em> magazine, and a 10-day writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Remaining finalists receive $1,000 each.<\/p>\n You can read The Metabolites <\/em>on the CBC Poetry Prize website.<\/a><\/p>\n