Fonds RC0219 - Jeffery Donaldson Fonds

Jeffery Donaldson is a professor in McMaster University’s department of English Literature and Cultural Studies and an author of poetry and non-fiction.

In 1960, Donaldson was born in Toronto; he developed an interest in creative writing at a young age. His early education was at Gosford Boulevard Public School, Jane Junior High School, and Huron Heights Secondary School. He completed his post-secondary education at Victoria College, University of Toronto, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts and Certification in English Language and Literature (1983), Master of Arts (1985), and lastly, his Doctorate (1990).

Donaldson’s academic research focuses on metaphor and metaphoric thinking. He is the author of Missing Link: The Evolution of Metaphor and the Metaphor of Evolution (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015). He has contributed to numerous academic journals and anthologies. Many of his scholarly articles are focused on psychology, the philosophy of language, religion, cognitive sciences, and English language and literature. Donaldson is also the editor of The Essential John Reibetanz (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2017) and co-editor, with Alan Mendelson, of Frye and the Word: Religious Contexts in the Writings of Northrop Frye (University of Toronto Press, 2003).

Donaldson is also the author of seven poetry collections, including Once Out of Nature (McClelland & Stewart, 1991), Waterglass (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1999), Palilalia (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008), Guesswork (Goose Lane Edition, 2011), Slack Action (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2013), Fluke Print (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2018), and Granted (Gordon Hill Press, 2023). Palilalia was nominated for the Canadian Author’s Association Poetry Prize in 2008.

Donaldson has also published three non-fiction volumes, including Echo Soundings: Essays on Poetry and Poetics (Palimpsest Press, 2014), Viaticum: From Notebooks (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2019), and Momento: On Standing in Front of Art (Gordon Hill, 2023). Viaticum: From Notebooks received the Hamilton Arts Council award for non-fiction in 2021.

In addition to writing, Donaldson has taught American literature, poetry, creative writing, and literary criticism at McMaster University since July 1989. He hosted an online podcast called “Jeweller’s Eye” from August 2015 to September 2018.