{{Short description|Canadian poet and novelist (born 1963)}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2025}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}} {{Infobox writer | embed = | honorific_prefix = | name = Lynn Crosbie | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | image_upright = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1963|08|07}} | birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Poet, author, educator | language = English | nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | citizenship = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | education = <!-- use only per MOS:INFOEDU --> | alma_mater = <!-- use only per MOS:INFOEDU --> | period = | genre = Poetry, fiction | subject = <!-- or: | subjects = --> | movement = | notable_works = | spouse = <!-- or: | spouses = --> | partner = <!-- or: | partners = --> | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | signature_type = | years_active = | module = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc.; or omit --> }}
'''Lynn Crosbie''' (born 7 August 1963)<ref name="WhoWho">{{cite book|title=Canadian Who's Who Search|publisher=Grey House Publishing Canada}}</ref> is a Canadian poet and novelist. She teaches at the University of Toronto.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canadian Poetry Online {{!}} University of Toronto Libraries {{!}} Lynn Crosbie |url=https://canpoetry.library.utoronto.ca/crosbie/index.htm |access-date=2026-03-03 |website=canpoetry.library.utoronto.ca}}</ref>
==Life and career== Crosbie was born in Montreal, Quebec, and now lives in Toronto, Ontario.
She received her PhD in English from the University of Toronto, writing her PhD thesis on the work of the American poet Anne Sexton.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lynn Crosbie |url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lynn-crosbie |access-date=2026-03-03 |website=thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}}</ref>
She has taught at York University, University of Toronto, University of Guelph, and OCAD University, and has taught shorter classes/workshops at Rutgers University, Workman, Sistering, Flying Books and more.
In 1997, Insomniac Press published her controversial book on the Canadian criminal Paul Bernardo, ''Paul's Case''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crosbie |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=ksHG4SleAOYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=lynn+crosbie+Paul's+Case&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=lynn%20crosbie%20Paul's%20Case&f=false |title=Paul's Case: The Kingston Letters |date=1997 |publisher=Insomniac Press |isbn=978-1-895837-09-4 |language=en}}</ref>
In 2006, Crosbie published a book-length poem titled ''Liar'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crosbie |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=L608GGPi6YgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=lynn+crosbie+Liar&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=lynn%20crosbie%20Liar&f=false |title=Liar: A Poem |date=2006 |publisher=House of Anansi |isbn=978-0-88784-745-5 |language=en}}</ref> available through House of Anansi Press. ''Liar'' is a personal work that deals with the end of her seven-year relationship with the professional wrestling fan Michael Holmes, author of the poetry book ''Parts Unknown''. Her long relationship with the writer Tony Burgess is chronicled in ''Pearl'' (1996).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crosbie |first=Lynn |url=https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Pearl/J1ofAQAAIAAJ?hl=en |title=Pearl: Poems |date=1996 |publisher=Anansi |isbn=978-0-88784-578-9 |language=en}}</ref>
Crosbie is a cultural critic, and the author of several books of poetry including ''Miss Pamela's Mercy'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crosbie |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=9ItaAAAAMAAJ&q=lynn+crosbie+Miss+Pamela's+Mercy&dq=lynn+crosbie+Miss+Pamela's+Mercy&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&redir_esc=y#lynn%20crosbie%20Miss%20Pamela's%20Mercy |title=Miss Pamela's Mercy |date=1992 |publisher=Coach House Press |isbn=978-0-88910-450-1 |language=en}}</ref> ''Corpses of the Future'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crosbie |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=JjGdDgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=lynn+crosbie+Corpses+of+the+Future&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=lynn%20crosbie%20Corpses%20of%20the%20Future&f=false |title=The Corpses of the Future |date=2017-04-08 |publisher=House of Anansi |isbn=978-1-4870-0092-9 |language=en}}</ref> and ''Missing Children''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crosbie |first=Lynn |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=4L9ZAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=lynn+crosbie+Missing+Children&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=lynn%20crosbie%20Missing%20Children&f=false |title=Missing Children |date=2014-04-29 |publisher=McClelland & Stewart |isbn=978-1-55199-515-1 |language=en}}</ref>
Crosbie has lectured on and written about visual art at the AGO,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Poets Spell Art |url=https://ago.ca/events/poets-spell-art |access-date=2026-03-03 |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |language=en}}</ref> the Power Plant, the McMichael Gallery,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Perspectives: Canadian Women Artists |url=https://mcmichael.com/exhibition/perspectives-canadian-women-artists/ |access-date=2026-03-03 |website=McMichael Canadian Art Collection |language=en-US}}</ref> the Oakville Gallery, and OCAD University (where she taught for six years.) She is a journalist with who has a regular column titled "Pop Rocks" in the Toronto newspaper ''The Globe and Mail'' and was a regular contributor to ''Toronto Life Fashion''.
Her Trampoline Hall Lecture was entitled "Don't Have Casual Sex".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Past Lectures |url=https://www.trampolinehall.net/past-lectures |access-date=2026-03-03 |website=Trampoline Hall |language=en-CA}}</ref>
Her book ''Life Is About Losing Everything'', a roman à clef/fictional memoir, was released in April 2012 by House of Anansi. The book won the 2013 ReLit Award in the fiction category.<ref>[https://theprovince.com/news/winners+2013+ReLit+Awards/9312768/story.html "And the winners of the 2013 ReLit Awards are...."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131105027/http://www.theprovince.com/news/winners+2013+ReLit+Awards/9312768/story.html |date=31 January 2014 }}. ''The Province'', 20 December 2013.</ref>
Her novel ''Where Did You Sleep Last Night'' was published in 2015 from House of Anansi.<ref>[http://houseofanansi.com/products/where-did-you-sleep-last-night "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"]. ''House of Anansi'', 2 May 2015.</ref> It was shortlisted for Ontario's Trillium Book Award.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robertson |first=Becky |date=2016-05-25 |title=Lynn Crosbie, Kevin Hardcastle, Karen Solie among Trillium finalists - Quill and Quire |url=https://quillandquire.com/book-news/2016/05/25/lynn-crosbie-kevin-hardcastle-karen-solie-among-trillium-finalists/ |access-date=2026-03-03 |website=Quill and Quire - Canada's magazine of book news and reviews |language=en}}</ref>
Her 2018 novel ''Chicken'' was optioned by filmmaker Bruce McDonald.
==Bibliography== *''Miss Pamela's Mercy'' (Coach House, 1992) *''The Girl Wants To: Women's Representations of Sex and the Body'' (Coach House, 1993) (as editor) *''Villainelle'' (Coach House, 1994) *''Pearl'' (House of Anansi, 1995) *''Paul's Case'' (Insomniac Press, 1997) *''Click: Becoming Feminists'' (MacFarlane, Walter & Ross, 1997) (as editor) *''Queen Rat: New and Selected Poems'' (House of Anansi, 1998) *''Dorothy L'Amour'' (HarperCollins, 1999) *''Phoebe 2002: An Essay in Verse'' (Turtle Point, 2003) (with Jeffery Conway and David Trinidad) *''Missing Children'' (McClelland & Stewart, 2003) *''Liar'' (House of Anansi, 2006) *''Life Is About Losing Everything'' (House of Anansi, 2012) *''Where Did You Sleep Last Night?'' (2015) *''Chicken'' (House of Anansi, 2018)
==See also== {{Portal| Poetry| Biography| Canada}} *Canadian literature *Canadian poetry *List of Canadian poets
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://atom.library.yorku.ca/index.php/lynn-crosbie-fonds Lynn Crosbie archives] at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries, Toronto, Ontario *[http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/crosbie/ Lynn Crosbie]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Crosbie, Lynn}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers Category:Canadian columnists Category:Journalists from Montreal Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Canadian women columnists Category:Poets from Montreal Category:Canadian women journalists Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto Category:20th-century Canadian novelists Category:21st-century Canadian novelists Category:20th-century Canadian poets Category:21st-century Canadian poets Category:20th-century Canadian women novelists Category:21st-century Canadian women novelists Category:Poets from Ontario Category:Novelists from Ontario Category:Novelists from Montreal Category:20th-century Canadian women poets Category:21st-century Canadian women poets