George Bowering | Biography

The back cover of Another Mouth (1979) calls George Bowering "fearlessly honest," and a note "About the Author" tells the reader that he was born in 1939; John Roberto Colombo, in Contemporary Poets (a reference book) says 1938; Frank Davey, Bowering's long-time friend, in From There to Here says 1936; elsewhere, we are told 1935. His birthplace, similarly, has been variously reported as Oliver, Keremeos, and Penticton (all of them small towns in the south-central interior of British Columbia, all of them within forty miles of the United States border). When asked if he was at all responsible for these (and other) conflicting data about his life, George Bowering said "Some," and chuckled. His "fearless honesty" frequently shows itself as mischief and can easily be mistaken for arrogance. Bowering is a trickster who uses his considerable wit and restless energy to deflate the pompous, to unsettle the satisfied,...
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