Bruce Whiteman

Although he has published extensively as a rare books librarian, scholar, and critic, Whiteman has called writing poetry "the part of my life I'm most passionate about." Known primarily as a prose poet who has been compared to fellow Canadian poets Christopher Dewdney and bpNichol, Whiteman's opus magnum is The Invisible World is In Decline, a continuing long poem he began working on in 1981 and which was first published in 1984; the ninth and final volume was published in 2022. A 2015 publication entitled Tablature marked Whiteman's return to the sort of verse poetry that characterized much of his earlier work.

Poetry • The Invisible World Is in Decline, Book IX. Toronto: ECW Press, 2022. • The Sad Mechanic Exercise. Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press, 2019. • Tablature. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2015. • Intimate Letters. Toronto: ECW Press, 2014. • The Invisible World Is in Decline, Books I-VI. Toronto: ECW Press, 2006. • Tristia. Pasadena: Vero Press, 2002. • XXIV Love Poems. Sherman Oaks: Ninja Press, 2002. • The Invisible World Is in Decline, Book V. Toronto: ECW Press, 2000. • The Forger Contemplates Rossetti. Los Angeles: Lyceum Press, 2000. • Visible Stars: New and Selected Poems. Dorion: The Muses' Company, 1995. • Zukofsky Impromptus. Toronto: Sin Tax, 1995. • Polyphonic Windows. Montreal: Poets & Painters Press, 1993. • The Invisible World Is in Decline, Books II-IV. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1989. • En avoir fini avec le corps seul. Le Sambuc: La Presse des Poètes et des Peintres d'Outre-Mer, 1987. • A Nature Murder. Hamilton: Poets & Painters Press, 1985. • Recesses in the Heart: The Thera Poems. Toronto: blewointmentpress, 1984. • The Invisible World Is in Decline. Toronto: Coach House Press, 1984. • The Cold Engineering of the World. Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 1983. • The Thera Poems. North Walsham: Warren House Press, 1982. • 10 Lessons in Autobiography. Guelph: Gryphon Press, 1981. • Inventions. Toronto: Three Trees Press, 1979. • The Sun At Your Thighs, The Moon At Your Lips. Toronto: Piraeus Press, 1978. • 12 Poems, 12 Drawings. With M.W. Jewell. Toronto: Poets & Painters Press, 1978. Translation • Tiberianus. Pervigilium Veneris. New York: Russell Maret, 2009. • Catullus. LXXXV/CV: Two Poems in Five Essays. Fullerton: Lyceum Press, 2006. • François Charron. After 10,000 Years, Desire: Selected Recent Poems. With Francis Farley-Chevrier. Toronto: ECW Press, 1995. Cultural History • Work To Be Done: Selected Essays and Reviews. Windsor: Biblioasis, 2024. • Ken Norris's Report: An Essay. Peterborough: Poets & Painters Press, 2024 • Reading Wide and Deep: The Canadian Long Poem: A Conversation. Peterborough: Poets & Painters Press, 2022. (With Ken Norris) • Best Canadian Essays 2021. Windsor: Biblioasis, 2021. • The World from Here: Treasures of the Great Libraries of Los Angeles. Los Angeles: UCLA Armand Hammer Museum, 2001. Edited by Bruce Whiteman and Cynthia Burlingham. • J.E.H. Macdonald. Kingston: Quarry Press, 1995. • Lasting Impressions: A Short History of English Publishing in Quebec. Montreal: Véhicule Press, 1994. • The Letters of John Sutherland, 1942-1956. Toronto: ECW Press, 1992. • A Bibliography of Macmillan of Canada Imprints 1906-1980. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1985. • Raymond Souster and His Works. Toronto: ECW Press, 1985. • Raymond Souster: A Descriptive Bibliography. Ottawa: Oberon Press, 1984. • A Literary Friendship: The Correspondence of Ralph Gustafson and W.W.E. Ross. Toronto: ECW Press, 1984. • Leonard Cohen: An Annotated Bibliography. Downsview: ECW Press, 1980.