Tim Lilburn

Canadian poet and essayist

Tim Lilburn (born 27 June 1950) is a Canadian poet and essayist. Lilburn was born in Regina, Saskatchewan. He obtained a B. A. from the University of Regina, a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Gonzaga University, and his PhD from McMaster University. He is the author of several critically acclaimed collections of poetry, including Kill site, To the River, Moosewood Sandhills and his latest work Going Home. Successful even in the early stages of his career, Lilburn's second work, Tourist To Ecstasy, was shortlisted for the Governor's General's Award but did not win. Lilburn's first glimpse of national approval came in 1995, upon receiving the Canadian Authors Association Award for his work on Moosewood Sandhills. In 2002, Lilburn's Living in the World as if it Were Home became the winner of the Saskatchewan Non Fiction Book of the Year Award and was a finalist for the Saskatoon Book Award. Eventually, Lilburn went on to win the Governor General's Award in 2003 for his book Kill site. Lilburn's work, although primarily directed towards a Canadian audience, has received global recognition and numerous volumes of his work can be found translated in Chinese, Serbian, German and Polish. In addition to writing his own work, Lilburn is the editor of, and a contributor to, two influential essay collections on poetics, Poetry and Knowing and Thinking and Singing: Poetry and the Practice of Philosophy. Lilburn was a judge for the 2011 Griffin Poetry Prize. In 2017 he received HOMER The European Medal of Poetry and Art

During the writing of Orphic Politics in 2006, Lilburn's health began to deteriorate. After contracting an auto immune condition that made walking difficult, he became ill and was hospitalized. Lilburn subsequently underwent a number of surgeries over a two year period. When interviewed about the experience, Lilburn described his experience as "living in the land of the ill."