Biography

Founder of The Ontario Poetry Society and nurturing muse to poets across Canada.

I.B. "Bunny" Iskov is the nurturing Muse of The Ontario Poetry Society (TOPS) and its presiding inventor. She has done service to Poetry - and she serves Poets. Her charity is not her salient attribute; rather, it is her respect for the panoply of poets, the assembly of poets, she has read and admired and even, yes, met.

Her latest collection, "One Place the Light Remains", is a series of homages and elegies for several of the Canadian greats who are no longer with us, though the light of their words remains: Earle Birney, Raymond Souster, Al Purdy, Milton Acorn, P.K. Page, Ellen Jaffe, Ted Plantos, and "Mick Burrs".

Iskov recalls and celebrates the poets who matter to her, who brought her to poetry. Her work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies, and her poems have won numerous awards and recognition.

As well as being a poet, Iskov has served the literary community through her founding and leadership of The Ontario Poetry Society, fostering a supportive environment for poets across the province.

Awards & Recognition

• 2017 Absolutely Fabulous Woman Award - for Women Over 40 in the Arts & Culture category
• Honourable Mention in the Mystical, Whimsical Poetry Chapbook Competition, 2018
• 1st Prize in the booksbycher.com poetry contest for the poem "Displaced"
• Multiple contest wins and placements including Ottawa Poetry Newsletter, Wordsworth Circle, and The Price Is Right Poetry Contest

Selected Publications

• My Coming of Age, HMS Press, 2018.
  ISBN: 978-1-55253-095-5 | 44 Pages Review by Elana Wolff
• Skirting the Edge, In Our Words Inc., 2015.
  ISBN: 978-1-926926-57-5
• In A Wintered Nest, Serengeti Press, 2013.
  ISBN: 978-0-98710318-9-7 | 36 Pages
• Sapphire Seasons, Aeolus House, 72 poems, 2009.
  ISBN: 978-0-98112724-8 | 72 Poems
• Rebels With a Cause, chapbook, Beret Days Press
  ISBN: 978-1-897497-73-9 | 44 Pages Stanza Break Series # 8
• One Place the Light Remains, Mosaic Press, 2025.
  ISBN: 9781771618328 | 79 Pages Read Review by Allan Briesmaster
• Cats & Dogs - chapbook - co-authored with Lenny Everson, Passion Among the Cacti Press
• like sparkle - chapbook - self-published in a limited collection of 30 copies
• Moon-Flares A Cosmic Collection (poems by I.B. Iskov & Katherine L. Gordon) - chapbook - Katherine L.Gordon - editor
• litany of breathing - chapbook - pooka press
• After the Rain - full collection - Snowapple Press
• anxiety attack - chapbook - Broken Jaw Press
• relatively speaking - chapbook - (poems by J. C. Hershberg & I.B. Iskov), self-published
• Space Alchemy - A Trilogy chapbook, Passion Among the Cacti Press (poems by Katherine L. Gordon, Joan McGuire & I.B. Iskov),
• Sex Sells - chapbook - Passion Among the Cacti Press Members' Books
• Executive Sweet - Poets I.B. Iskov, Michael Persaud, Kate Marshall Flaherty, Debbie Okun Hill, Mark Clement and Chris Sorrenti - Beret Days Press Stanza Break Series # 15 Stanza Break Series # 8
• Primitive Light, SB. Series # 28 - chapbook - Beret Days Press

Selected Anthologies

• Encompass II - 1 of 5 poets in this anthology
• One poem in The Banister, Niagara Poetry Anthology, Volume 30, 2015
• To Rhyme or Not To Rhyme won an Honourable Mention Award in the “Rhyme or Not To Rhyme, ...That Is Your Choice Poetry Contest”, 2011
• Rise Up Singing, An Anthology of Women's Poetry & Prose - London Abused Women's Centre
• Henry's Creature, Poems and Stories of the Automobile - Black Moss Press
• A Time of Trial, Beyond the Terror of 9/11 - Hidden Brook Press
• Earle Birney, A Tribute - Prism International
• Witness, anthology of poetry, Serengeti Press
• Elan, a Regina Weese Collection, Wingate Press
• Several anthologies published by The Ontario Poetry Society & The Canadian Poetry Ass'n.
• Anthology One - Ascent Aspirations - edited by David Fraser
• FROM THE WEB - A Global Anthology Of Women's Political Poetry, Radical Poetry Collective
• SPIRIT of HUMANITY - Artists For A Better World International
• Arborealis - anthology of poetry, Beret Days Press, 2 poems, 2008
• Voices Israel - Anthology 2008 - 2 poems
• Anthology Five - Ascent Aspirations, Spring, 2008 - two poems
• This Little Light of Mine, McMaster University, 2008 - one poem
• Anthology Five, Spring 2008 Ascent Aspirations - 2 Poems
• Voices Israel 2009 Anthology - 1 Poem
• Earth to Moon, a Vaughan Poets' Circle Collection 2009 - 1 poem
• Poet to Poet, Guernica Editions, 2012 Edited by Elana Wolff and Julie Roorda.
• Window Fishing: the Night we Caught Beatlemania, Selected and Edited by John B. Lee, Hidden Brook Press, 2014
• big art book, Issue 3, 2014, Scarborough Arts Council
• Poetic Imagination, CANCYP Publications, Coordinated by Paulos Ioannou, 2017
• A Poet's Siddur Shabbat Evening, Liturgy Through the Eyes of Poets, Ain't Got No Press, Edited by Rick Lupert, 2017
• Hellenic Encounters, CANCYP Publications, 2018 with 12 poems in both English and Greek.
• TAMARACKS Canadian Poetry For The 21st Century, Lummox Press, 2018, James Deahl, Editor
• The Banister Niagara Poetry Anthology Volume 33, Canadian Authors Association, 2018

Literary Journals & Magazines

• Poem IN THE NEW YEAR is Poetry Pick of the Month for Jan. 2012 on the Tower Poetry Society website
• on spec: the Canadian magazine of the fantastic, Winter 2007-08 issue
• Humanist Perspectives, Winter 2010 - 11 Isuue # 175
• GHOSTLIGHT vol. 2, issue 1, 2010
• Tower Poetry, Winter Edition, 2009, Vol. 58 No. 2
• surface & symbol, 52% - Carleton University Womyn's Centre,
• Open Minds Quarterly, Reality & Meaning Journal, Diviners, Undertow, Midwest Poetry Review, Tupperware Sandpiper, Labour of Love, Transition, Regina Weese e-zine, Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine, Hammered Out, DANI, North American Maple
• Stellar Showcase Literary Journal - Spring 2008 edition.
• Ascent Aspirations - Spring 2008
• 1 poem published in Parchment, 15th Issue, 2008.
• Halcyon Magazine Praise Writers Issue 2, August, 2013 - 1 poem
• Leafpress online magazine

Awards

• Third Prize and 1 Honourable Mention Award in The Picture Perfect Poetry Anthology Contest, 2016
• First Prize in the Ultra Short Poetry Contest, 2015 for the poem, With No Mercy
• First Honourable Mention for my poem, Rumour Has It in The Marjorie McIntosh Prize for Poetry by Canadian Stories Magazine, 2015. James Deahl was the judge
• Honourable Mention in The Double Your Pleasure Poetry Contest, 2013 for a renga co-written with S.A. McCormick.
• On behalf of Liz Benneian and the Oakvillegreen Board, I would like to congratulate you as being selected in our poetry contest and invite you and a guest to the 3rd Annual Urban Forest Awards and Mayor's Heritage Tree Awards Ceremony, hosted by Oakvillegreen and the Town of Oakville. - March 23rd, 2010
• Recipient - Inaugaral R.A.V.E. - Award (2009) - Recognizing Arts Vaughan Excellence in recognition of outstanding contribution to the cultural landscape of the City of Vaughan. The award is for 2009 Art Educator / Mentor in the Literary Arts.
• Hon. Mention in the Open Heart 3 Poetry Contest, 2008
• Hon. Mention in the William Henry Drummond Poetry Contest, 2008
• Hon. Mention in Pandora's Collective Hibernating With Words Poetry Contest, 2008
• Hon. Mention in Pandora's Collective Kisses & Popsicles Poetry Contest, 2007
• Hon. Mention in Open Heart 1 Poetry Contest, 2006
• Runner-up in the Rhyming Category in The Winsome Words Poetry Contest, 2006
• Second Prize in Balticon 39 Poetry Contest, 2005
• First Prize & Hon. Mention in the $2 Category in The Price Is Right Poetry Contest, 2004
• Second Prize in the $10 Category in The Price Is Right Poetry Contest, 2004
• Hon. Mention in Pandora's Collective Summer Dream Poetry Contest, 2004
• Hon. Mention in The Poet & The PC Sonnet Contest, 2003
• I.B. Iskov is the recipient of the 2017 Absolutely Fabulous Woman Award - for Women Over 40 in the Arts & Culture category.
• Honourable Mention in the Mystical, Whimsical Poetry Chapbook Competition, 2018
• 1st Prize in the booksbycher.com poetry contest for the poem “Displaced”.
• One poem in Lummox Poetry Journal, Number Seven, 2018