Patrick Frank Friesen is a Canadian author. He has written many works, from poetry to stage plays. He began his works in 1970, writing books of poetry. This Canadian poet, who was born in Steinbach, Manitoba, studied at the University of Manitoba. While there, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree and a teaching certificate. After being a resident of Winnipeg for thirty years, Friesen now lives in Victoria, BC and is a teacher of creative writing at the University of Victoria. Friesen often collaborates with dancers, choreographers, composers and musicians. Along with writing poetry, he also writes songs for musicians and texts to Improv Piano. Friesen grew up in a small religious community, and comes from a Mennonite background, but he broke away from that small community physically and spiritually at a young age. His Mennonite upbringing still influences his work such as, “The Shunning,” which is about the persecution of a Mennonite farmer questioning his religion. The winner of Manitoba Book of the Year for his work on “Blasphemer’s Wheel," Friesen was also the runner up in Milton Acorn’s People’s Poetry Awards. In a 2004 interview Friesen has noted that, “Being Mennonite in background had all kinds of effects on content.” In 1997, his work, “A Broken Bowl,” was short listed for the Governor General’s Award. Friesen collaborated with Per Brask on the translation from Danish of Ulrikka S. Gernes' Frayed Opus for Strings & Wind Instruments, which has been shortlisted for the 2016 Griffin Poetry Prize.
Audio
Blue Door – 1997
Small Rooms – 2003
Calling the Dog Home – 2005
Anthologies
An Anthology of Prairie Poetry – 1981
Ride Off Any Horizon – 1983
Visions and Reality – 1985
Pieces of the Jigsaw: A Multicultural Anthology for Young Readers – 1986
Mocambo Nights: Poetry From the Mocambo Reading Series – 2001
The New Long Line Anthology, 2nd Edition – 2001
15 Canadian Poets x 3 – 2001
Why I Sing the Blues' – 2001
Instant Applause: Twenty-nine Very Short Complete Plays – 2004
Other works and collaborations
The Shunning, the Play, staged in 1985 by Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, in 1992 by Theatre & Co. in Kitchener, in 1992 by Trinity Theatre in Livonia, Michigan, in 1993 by MAUS Theatre in B.C., and in 1995 by Two Planks and a Passion in Nova Scotia.
Amanda, a short drama on CBC Radio Manitoba, 1986.
Anna, a dance/words collaboration with choreographer Stephanie Ballard, with guest artistMargie Gillis, performed in 1987 at the Gas Station Theatre in Winnipeg.
Noah, a multi-disciplinary collaboration, presented as a working piece in 1987 at Main Access Gallery, Winnipeg.
Singer, a docu-drama on Richard Manuel for CBC Radio Manitoba, 1989.
Second Birth, a short drama for CBC Radio Canada, 1991.
Handful of Rain, a multi-disciplinary collaboration with Dance Collective, and various artists, performed at Gas Station Theatre, Winnipeg, April 1991.
The Raft, an original play, performed January 1992 at Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg, in February 1995 by Theatre & Co. in Kitchener.
The Raft, adapted for CBC Radio Canada, by Nancy Trites Botkin, 1997.
Friday, 6:32 p.m., an original short play written for the Short Shots series, staged by the Manitoba Association of Playwrights, 1993.
Old Woman and the Bones, collaboration with composer Michael Matthews, the musical group Thira, and Primus Theatre, staged at the New Music Festival in Winnipeg in February 1993.
Madrugada, performed by Groundswell and Primus Theatre at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre in Winnipeg, April 1995.
Broken Bowl, created, performed with jazz pianist Marilyn Lerner, Sunstone Coffee, Winnipeg, 17 July 1996, at The Glass Slipper, Vancouver, 3 Oct 1996, four performances at the Atlantic Jazz Festival, Halifax, July 1997, and recorded by CBC Radio Manitoba, and called Blue Door, 1996.
