John Wall Barger (born 1969) is a Canadian-American poet, educator, editor, and critic. He was born in New York City and grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Barger's poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, including American Poetry Review, The Hopkins Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Rattle, The Awl, The Antioch Review, The Cincinnati Review, and Poetry Ireland Review. He writes literary criticism for Rain Taxi.
Of The Mean Game, The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, “Love is a mean game, and cruelty in all its forms is a close relative. These vivid, odd, often marvelous poems create brand-new myths that probe unkindness, love, belief, and everything around and in between in Barger's splendidly original style.” Literary Matters writes, “[The Mean Game] is filled with treasures and startlements ... What brings them together is not only a unity of story—in some way they all point toward the same thing—but their brilliant horse sense, their way of saying the bare thing as it has never been said before.” Hamilton Review of Books writes, “John Wall Barger is one of our most important poets, and The Mean Game, his fourth full-length collection, confirms that he has not only come into his own, but is now writing at the very height of his powers.” [1]
Poetry books
editThe Mean Game (trade paperback): Palimpsest Press, 2019 [1]
Dying in Dharamsala (chapbook): Alfred Gustav Press, 2018
Samovar / Dukkha (chapbook): Baseline Press, 2016
The Vnfortunate Report & Tragicall Tidings of Leslie Barger (chapbook): Thee Hellbox Press, 2016
The Book of Festus (trade paperback): Palimpsest Press, 2015 — finalist for the JM Abraham Award https://palimpsestpress.ca/books/the-book-of-festus/Hummingbird (trade paperback): Palimpsest Press, 2012 — finalist for the Raymond Souster Award [2]
Pain-proof Men (trade paperback): Palimpsest Press, 2009[2]
Literary acknowledgments
editCo-winner of The Malahat Review's Long Poem Prize 2017
Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2008 and 2015
Best of the Best Canadian Poetry, 2017
Shortlist, Montreal Poetry Prize, 2011 and 2013
Canada Council Grant for Professional Writers, Mid-Career, 2013 and 2019
Editor, Painted Bride Quarterly, 2017-2019