Jeff Seffinga
was born in the Netherlands and came to Canada with his family in
1951. They settled in Eastern Ontario where he grew up and went
to school.
He began writing
in his early years and focused on expressing himself through poetry
after obtaining a degree in English Language and Literature. Some
of his early serious work was anthologized in 1971. His first solo
collection came out in 1981, followed over the years by eight more
titles with various publishers, including Black Moss and Mekler&Deahl,
as well as several smaller pieces. But even while writing, he spent
much time and effort into helping other writers and poets.
He was an integral
part of Herb Barrett's Hamilton Haiku Workshop and its role as part
of the Canadian Poetry Association. He chaired the Literary Committee
of the local Arts Council and served on its board. He was one of
the founding members of the Hamilton Poetry Centre and established
the literary salon known as Lit Chat. With Bill Powell of Creative
Arts he published a yearly collection of local poetry known as the
TOP 40 anthologies. Through his own press, he helped several young
poets get a start. Along the way his work has won awards both great
and small, including the grain Prose Poem in 1996.
In 2007 he published
his collection, IN TIMES OF CHANGING SEASONS, won a "Cat Lit"
prize from The Pride Rescue and Mini Mocho Press, and was awarded
the 2007 City of Hamilton Arts Award - Literature.
He remains active
in literary circles. He served as editor-in-chief of TOWER POETRY,
a semi-annual magazine, for ten years and was the editor for Serengeti
Press. He is the coordinator of the Acorn-Plantos Award for people's
poetry. He continues to write, submitting poems to local and national
journals and anthologies. His most recent volume of new poems, ALL
WE LIKE CATS, was published in December, 2010.
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