Art, activism, and imagining a better world

Stephen Collis is a professor of poetry and literature at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in the Department of English, and one of Canada’s most celebrated poets. His most recent work, A History of the Theories of Rain, was nominated for the Governor General Literary Award as one of Canada’s top five English language books of poetry in 2021.

Collis' accolades include the 2011 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, the 2015 Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy and the 2019 Latner Writers’ Trust of Canada Poetry Prize. His most recent work, A History of the Theories of Rain, was nominated for the Governor General Literary Award as one of Canada’s top five English language books of poetry in 2021.

A History of the Theories of Rain explores the strange effect our current sense of impending doom has on our relation to time, and on how we talk, think and feel about the future. The poetry itself is about climate change, time and feelings of grief and loss—themes that have become even more urgent and relevant over the past year. As a longtime activist, Collis was pleased to learn his book was gifted to fellow environmentalists Greta Thunberg and Al Gore at the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). “I feel good for the book,” says Collis. “A lot more people are going to read it and that’s wonderful. You want to be in conversation. That’s why you make art.”