By Natalie Zakrzewski
When Rob Winger scrolled through the list of finalists for the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the last name he expected to see nominated was his own. The Carleton University English professor’s book length poem entitled Muybridge’s Horse: A Poem in Three Phases is one of five works nominated for the poetry award.
Winger was away on vacation when the finalists were announced. On his return home, he checked the award’s website, curious to view the list. Much to his surprise, he scrolled down and saw his name.
“Everybody’s very excited. When we found out, my little boy was running around the house and yelling in happiness, but he didn’t know why,” he says laughing.
When asked how he feels about his nomination Winger answered jokingly, “It’s terrible. No, it’s awesome, it’s great and very exciting. I can’t think of anything that isn’t a cliché to say, but it’s humbling and thrilling and all of those superlatives,” he added.
Winger says he remembers writing as a young boy living in a rural town in Southern Ontario, but he cannot pinpoint what attracted him to the written word.
“I don’t know how I started,” he said. “I remember in high school at some point I just quit every sport that I played and turned to writing and art. I would feel like a pompous arse saying it was my passion and it consumed me. But I can’t imagine not doing it.”
Winger’s nominated work chronicles the life of Eadweard Muybridge, photographer and inventor of the late 19th century.
Winger says he first got a taste of Muybridge’s work as an undergraduate at Mount Allison University.
He describes that the way one of his favourite professors displayed Muybridge’s images really made them stand out. Rather than focusing on theory alone,
Winger says his professor presented each image as an art form that could be interpreted, rather than a lesson that had to be memorized.
The title of Winger’s book refers to an experiment in velocity and movement for which Muybridge is most famous. He invented shutter speeds fast enough to capture a static image of a horse running on a racetrack. Muybridge proved the theory that while a horse is running, all four of his legs can be off the ground at the same time for an instance.
Winger’s discovery of Muybridge’s experiment marked the beginning of his infatuation with the famous photographer, but he says he later found that his biography was even more enticing than his photographic works. “There were murders, love affairs, escapes to central America and the list goes on,” says Winger.
His wife of five years, Kristal Davis, says she and Winger met in their undergraduate years. Davis explains that she loves the work her husband does and is so proud of his achievements.
“Rob is such a thoughtful and creative person and it really comes out in his writing. I just think it’s fantastic. He’s such a great writer,” says Davis.
A total of 136 writers submitted their works to the award’s poetry category says Donna Balkan, the media representative for the Canadian Council of the Arts, which is administrating the awards. There are other awards for works in areas such as drama, fiction and children’s literature.
While he waits for the winners to be announced, Winger says he is busy working on his PhD study on the post-modern Canadian long poem in the 1970s.
When he is not on campus or writing, Winger is at home watching the hockey game or playing with his four-year-old son.