Colleen Thibaudeau

My Grandmother’s Sugar Shell, Ontario Baroque

January 1st, 2026

December 3, 2025 — This poem by Colleen Thibaudeau was read by poet David White at Antler River Poetry’s event Colleen Thibaudeau: An Evening of Poetry and Memories.

My Grandmother’s Sugar Shell, Ontario Baroque

My grandmother’s sugar shell (spoon), Ontario Baroque, has just fallen
out of the uncleaned silver bag.
What does it mean, I wonder.
One day only I saw her stop work.
We lay out on the grass by the highway under the big maple
and two cars went by toward Owen Sound. When she heard
their car coming for dinner, she got up, a big woman
with Scottish shoulders, built too heavy on the top like
all the Stewarts, her leg-bones stilt-like in proportion
to the square rest of her.

And she rose all of a piece,
I remember that she rose up somehow straight and not
hinging her knees, nor using her hands, nor her elbows,
nor leaning her head forward. So that
she was the reverse of a tree falling before a quick gust.
That is, she rose on a slant as if pulleys were attached
to her everywhere

or as if
the kitchen woodstove were a magnet that suddenly
drew her inside. One minute she was
all green and gold lying there dappled. The next
she was half-way up the lawn and in motion over the steps.
The door opened magically and she disappeared. She would
never wonder about anything, just say, “That spoon needs cleaning.”
And yet I think it means she needs remembering.

Colleen Thibaudeau, 1984

“My Grandmother’s Sugar Shell, Ontario Baroque” is from The Martha Landscapes (1984), available from Brick Books.

As part of Colleening 2025, London’s Antler River Poetry group presented an evening of poets reading their favourite Colleen Thibaudeau poems and sharing their memories. Thank you Roy Geiger and Misha Bower for organizing the event and to readers John Tyndall, Jordan Williamson, Karen Schindler, Jennifer Wenn, Jenny Berkel, Peggy Roffey, David White, and Penn Kemp.

For a full recording of Colleen Thibaudeau: An Evening of Poetry and Memories, see the Words Festival YouTube Channel.

Colleen Thibaudeau in London, Ontario in 1977.
Colleening 2025 is a year-long celebration of Colleen Thibaudeau’s centenary.
East: Timesend’s Grove

December 29th, 2025

East: Timesend’s Grove

in the green oakgrove at Timesend’s
is blowing a pink rose special to that shade:
peculiar, wild and soft, not lasting, it has affinity
with what my Dolphin Baby said to me:
We’re all aswim in one big sea

out lying on the green grass beside the hedge and under the scrub
oak trees, I was watching two children coming through the dust
knee-high (and the bees were about and were zooming after those
yellow warblers that go lacing through the hedge) and with never
a sign they drifted over to the grove and snitched each one a whole
banner of roses that they held close to their jerseys till they were
nearly out of sight when suddenly they loosened up and began
madly swinging roses. Then only the mid-day left very hot
and I was listening to the wash-wash voice of my baby who was asleep
and who suddenly said, We’re all aswim in one big sea.

O Joy, the lightest tap can stir a failing sun
can give the labouring globe a spin
that starts a staggering miraculous run
of roses, trees and we and we
who do all swim in one big sea.

Colleen Thibaudeau, 1954

Colleen Thibaudeau and her son James, King’s Park, Manitoba 1954.

“East: Timesend’s Grove” is from Colleen Thibaudeau’s four-part poem “Four Corners: King’s Park, Manitoba” and appears in The Artemesia Book: Poems Selected and New, available from Brick Books.

On November 29, 2025, the James Reaney Memorial Lecture was given by poet Peggy Roffey, and the title of her lecture was Colleen Thibaudeau’s ‘Big Sea’ Vision. Inspired by Thibaudeau’s idea of how we are “all aswim in one big sea,” Roffey explained that “The poem shows how the affinity between the rose and what the baby says is created, and how that summer moment enters the speaker’s mind and memory.”

For the full version of Peggy Roffey’s lecture on Colleen Thibaudeau’s poems, see the Words Festival YouTube channel.

Colleen Thibaudeau in London, Ontario in 1977.
Colleening 2025 is a year-long celebration of Colleen Thibaudeau’s centenary.
Colleening 2025: Peggy Roffey on Colleen Thibaudeau’s Big Sea Vision

December 8th, 2025

Colleen Thibaudeau in London, Ontario in 1977.

Thank you for coming to the 16th annual James Reaney Memorial Lecture celebrating poet Colleen Thibaudeau’s ‘Big Sea’ Vision on Saturday November 29th. This year’s lecture is part of Colleening 2025, a year-long celebration of Colleen Thibaudeau’s centenary.

A video of Peggy Roffey’s lecture is available on the Words Festival YouTube channel.

Peggy Roffey presents “Colleen Thibaudeau’s ‘Big Sea’ Vision” at the James Reaney Memorial Lecture on November 29, 2025 in London, Ontario. London poets Patricia Black and Ola Nowosad (seated) read many of Colleen Thibaudeau’s poems.

Thank you, Peggy Roffey, for leading us through a thoughtful exploration of Thibaudeau’s poetry. After getting us to reflect on someone dear to us and on what we associated with that person, Peggy said that we “… had all done a bit of Colleening. You’ve used memory and imagination to reach beyond time and space. You found an association, made a connection and had that associated detail there. You’ve also connected to somebody else in the room.”

“You’ve touched on the way Colleen wrote her poems; they are peopled, very peopled. Full of significant objects, places, experiences, but all attached to people. I actually counted the number of people that she named by name or role: five hundred. Five hundred people in just over two hundred poems….”

We would also like to thank London poets Patricia Black and Ola Nowosad who read Colleen Thibaudeau’s poems so beautifully. And thanks also to Alannah Vanderburgh-Oakley and Dan Hamilton of the London Public Library for their coordination and assistance, and to Josh Lambier of Words Festival for his technical expertise.

About the presenter: Peggy Roffey is a Londoner who did her Master’s Thesis at UWO on Colleen’s poetry to 1975 and was a frequent reader alongside Colleen. Peggy has also had an interesting career in organizational culture and leadership development at St. Joseph’s Health Care London and at UWO (Western). She taught English Renaissance Literature and Canadian Literature at Western for the last 15 years of her career.

This year’s James Reaney Memorial Lecture celebrates the legacy of poet Colleen Thibaudeau (1925-2012), the late wife of poet and playwright James Crerar (Jamie) Reaney (1926-2008). Our grateful thanks to the London Public Library and Words Festival for giving the lecture a new home and partnership.

Colleen Thibaudeau and James Reaney near Stratford, Ontario, 1982.
(Photo by Marty Gervais)
Colleening 2025: AlvegoRoot presents The Letters & Poetry of Colleen Thibaudeau

November 1st, 2025

Colleen Thibaudeau, (1925-2012) in 1977.

Our celebration of poet Colleen Thibaudeau’s centenary continues this month on November 7-9 with AlvegoRoot Theatre‘s brand new concert version of Colleening: The Letters and Poetry of Colleen Thibaudeau, which premiered in 2013.

Compiled by Adam Corrigan Holowitz with music by Stephen Holowitz and Oliver Whitehead, Colleen’s letters and poems take us on a journey through childhood memories, home life, and Canadian culture.
The performers are Katy Clark, Paul Grambo, and Kydra Ryan.

Where: The Manor Park Memorial Hall, 11 Briscoe Street W, London, Ontario
When: Friday November 7 at 7:30 pm and matinees at 2 pm on Saturday November 8 and Sunday November 9.

Tickets: $30 available at OnStageDirect.

Colleening: The Letters & Poetry of Colleen Thibaudeau, November 7-9.

Paul Grambo, Kydra Ryan and Katy Clark
in AlvegoRoot Theatre’s Colleening, November 7-9, 2025

Miniatures II
The grass-seed sower casts, casts,
And behind her the birds come
Greedy for her hopes. They are eating up
This poem almost as quickly as I can make it.
Colleen Thibaudeau, 1991

Colleen Thibaudeau, July 1969 in Vancouver, BC. Photo by Pat Yeomans.
Colleening 2025 — Colleen Thibaudeau’s poetry celebrated in St. Thomas

October 2nd, 2025

Colleen Thibaudeau, (1925-2012) in 1977.

September 18, 2025 — Thank you, Julie Berry, for curating and organizing a magical Colleening 2025 evening celebrating Colleen Thibaudeau’s poetry in her home town of St. Thomas, Ontario.

The Elgin County Railway Museum is located in the historic Michigan Central Railroad locomotive shops (est. 1913) at 225 Wellington Street in St. Thomas, Ontario.

Performing at the Elgin County Railway Museum’s Rolling Stock Gallery were fourteen wonderful readers: Joe Preston, Barb Hoskins, Peter Bloch-Hansen, Cynthia Snyder, Mike Baker, Rose Gibson, John Allen, Sally Martyn, Kayla Berdan, Bruce Parker, Steve Peters, Julie Berry, Susan Wallace and James Stewart Reaney. Many of the poems they read were about St. Thomas where Colleen Thibaudeau lived for much of her childhood.

Thanks also to audio-visual technicians, Devon Church and Dawn Garton, who made sure Colleen’s words and images more than filled the cavernous Rolling Stock Gallery, home to locomotives from the early 20th century.

The CN 5700 steam locomotive in the Rolling Stock Gallery, Elgin County Railway Museum.

Bruce Parker, who read Thibaudeau’s poem “The Glass Cupboard,” recalls that “The train museum, as you can imagine, is an enormous, echo-ey venue, with natural reverberation for the speaking voices. I must admit, it was rather cool to read in front of 200 tons of locomotive.”

September 18, 2025 at the Elgin County Railway Museum Rolling Stock Gallery

Colleening 2025 is a celebration of
the centenary of poet Colleen Thibaudeau (1925-2012).
Colleening 2025 events this fall

September 9th, 2025

Colleen Thibaudeau, (1925-2012) in 1977.

Colleening 2025 in St. Thomas, Ontario

September 2025 — On September 18, celebrate Colleen Thibaudeau’s centenary with a feast of her St. Thomas poems read by local fans including Joe Preston, John Allen, Julie Berry, Barb Hoskins, Mike Baker & more!

Where: The Elgin County Railway Museum, 225 Wellington Street, St. Thomas
When: Thursday, September 18, 2025, 7-9 pm
Cash Bar — Admission is free.

Colleening 2025 in London, Ontario

AlvegoRoot presents Colleening: The Letters & Life of Colleen Thibaudeau

November 2025 – On November 7-9, AlvegoRoot Theatre presents a brand new concert version of Colleening: The Letters and Poetry of Colleen Thibaudeau, which premiered in 2013.

Compiled by Adam Corrigan Holowitz with music by Stephen Holowitz and Oliver Whitehead, Colleen’s letters and poems take us on a journey through childhood memories, home life, and Canadian culture.
The performers are Katy Clark, Paul Grambo, and Kydra Ryan.

Where: The Manor Park Memorial Hall, 11 Briscoe Street W, London, Ontario
When: Friday November 7 at 7:30 pm and matinees at 2 pm on Saturday November 8 and Sunday November 9.

Tickets: $30 available at OnStageDirect.

On Saturday November 29, poet Peggy Roffey presents “Colleen Thibaudeau’s Big Sea Vision” at the 2025 James Reaney Memorial Lecture. This year the annual lecture, in the spirit of metaphor, steps to the side and shows the “she” beside the “he”: James Reaney’s wife, poet Colleen Thibaudeau (1925-2012). Presented by London Public Library and Words Festival.

Where: London Public Library, Central Library Lawson Room, 251 Dundas Street, London, Ontario
When: Saturday November 29, 1 pm.
Admission is free. Please register to attend the lecture — the EventBrite registration works for both the onsite event at the London Public Library and online via Zoom Webinar: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/peggy-roffey-colleen-thibaudeaus-big-sea-vision-tickets-1802841450309?aff=oddtdtcreator

On Wednesday December 3, Antler River Poetry presents Celebrating Colleen Thibaudeau: An Evening of Poetry and Memories. A lineup of well-known local poets and readers will share their favourite work by Canadian literary legend Colleen Thibaudeau.
Where: London Public Library, Landon Branch, 167 Wortley Road, London, Ontario
When: Wednesday December 3, 7 pm. Admission is free.
Colleen Thibaudeau’s Lozenges, 2nd edition printed in Sparta, Ontario

August 28th, 2025

Printers Hilary Neary, Stephen Sword, and Mike Baker at The Forge and Anvil Museum in Sparta, Ontario.
(Photo by James Stewart Reaney)

Wednesday August 27, 2025 — Printers and compositors Hilary Neary (left), Stephen Sword, and Mike Baker pose with Colleen Thibaudeau’s 1965 classic Lozenges. A detail from the 2025 edition’s cover design is in the foreground at The Forge and Anvil Museum in Sparta, Ontario where the second edition was printed.

The Lozenges second edition is part of Colleening 2025, a celebration of the centenary of Colleen Thibaudeau (1925-2012).

( ( ( 0 ) ) ) Listen to Hilary Neary and Mike Baker read poems from Lozenges.

Colleen Thibaudeau’s poem “The Train” from Lozenges (1965)

Colleen Thibaudeau’s poem “The Hockey Stick” from Lozenges (1965)
The Tin Shop

August 7th, 2025

Colleen Thibaudeau (seated) with her friends, Summer 1943 in St. Thomas, Ontario.
(Joyce Draper is on the left and June Rose is seated at the top.)

The Tin Shop

The Tin Shop never sounded tin
it sounded canaries;
because of the Great Depression
no one wanted eaves
but everyone wanted canaries.

It became the place where
we changed skates
sharpened them
traced out our initials
on the floor,
sipped cocoa.

The Tinsmith bred canaries
that lived in tin apartments
elaborate as palaces
spacious and filling all
the upper air
with communal sopranos.

The Tin Shop never sounded tin
it became a meeting place
for men
displaced workers
all their strength now
gone into those deep voices
vibrantly disaffected
politically haranguing
words / scored as deeply
in the wooden floors as
our skate blades.

The canaries sang and moulted
a world of yellow.
The men’s words, strong,
bedevilled, are they in the
end gone like the
songs and the feathers?

Colleen Thibaudeau, 1984

“The Tin Shop” first appeared in The Martha Landscapes (1984) and is also included in The Artemesia Book (1991), both available from Brick Books.

( ( ( 0 ) ) ) Listen to Steve Peters, the current owner of the Tin Shop, read Colleen Thibaudeau’s poem.
Watermelon Summer

July 18th, 2025

Watermelon Summer

‘Going to be one hot summer for sure,’ said Uncle Willie
who had set his heart on growing watermelons
in a cindery patch at the very end of his Garden.

‘No one is going to look there for them.’ He told no one
but us, planted them at night. Joyce and I
biked sweatily out to our first job, tenderly

moved translucent baby cabbages, made little hats
for them, carried water endlessly and longed
for the promised crisp bite, the crisp juices

reviving, ‘turning us into real people’, he said.
We were just at that turning point, thirteen years old;
we dreamed of the watermelon promise.

He said they were ‘coming along nicely’, green
taut, bulging over the hillside, as yet
undiscovered by the boys. September came.

The boys came. One Saturday morning we saw
yellowing leaves only and every watermelon gone.
Yet the anticipation of the melon miracle

seemed to have turned us, Joyce and I, into ‘real people’.
And we pondered this, purposely noisy with our milkshakes,
solacing ourselves with second best.

Colleen Thibaudeau, 1991

“Watermelon Summer” is from The Artemesia Book (1991), available from Brick Books.

( ( ( 0 ) ) ) Listen to Sonja Gustafson perform the poem set to music by Stephen Holowitz.

Long after the “Watermelon Summer,” Colleen and Joyce remained friends and Joyce grew up to be a talented artist. She once made a “bon voyage” cake (complete with arc de triomphe!) when Colleen left to teach in France.

Colleen Thibaudeau and Joyce Draper Coles, St. Thomas, Ontario, October 1950.

Joyce’s 1946 exhibition at Central Tech in Toronto

1946 painting by Joyce Draper Coles (1925-2020) of her Toronto neighbourhood
Lullaby of the Child for the Mother

May 7th, 2025

Lullaby of the Child for the Mother

The child who never lived was the real child
whose lovely eyes were seas
and little limbs were lullabies
and lovely seas

He said, my mother is a street
where strangers pass
her hair winds like the wind
round wooden poles

Her lovely eyes are seas
Her hair is wind that shakes the elder tree

He said, my mother is a stair
where strangers pass
and when night rocks me round
then I am sure

Her hair is wind that shakes the elder tree
her eyes are seas

Colleen Thibaudeau, 1967

“Lullaby of the Child for the Mother” can be found in My granddaughters are combing out their long hair (Coach House Press,1977) and also in The Artemisia Book (1991), available from Brick Books.

( ( ( 0 ) ) ) Listen to Sonja Gustafson perform the poem set to music by Oliver Whitehead.