BURRS, Mick - 1940 - 2021 It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Mick Burrs, a renowned award-winning poet, known by his literary name Steven Michael Berzensky, on April 20, 2021.
Mick was the son of Shirley Levi Burrs and Albert Burrs, and brother and brother-in-law of Renee and Jack Donner.
Mick will be greatly missed by all of his friends across Canada in the literary world, and especially by those closest to him, Kent Bowman and Sharon Singer.
Los Angeles born, Mick Burrs was one of Canada's finest poets, winning both the 1983 Saskatchewan Poetry Award, and the 1998 Saskatchewan Book Award for Poetry.
With seven published poetry books, Mick was a former editor of Grain, the prestigious prairie literary magazine. A voracious reader "poor in everything except books" Mick's countless tomes were filled with marginalia-ideas sparked by what he read.
Mick's breadth of knowledge was only outshone by his great compassion for people and for the natural world. Mick's longtime publisher, Regina's Coteau Books published "The Names Leave the Stones: Poems New and Selected," (2001) to great acclaim.
In Toronto, Mick collaborated with Allan Briesmaster on "Crossing Lines: Poets who came to Canada in the Vietnam Era" (Seraphim Editions, 2008). Composer James Wright set Mick's poem "Quilled Sonnet" to music, sung by Ottawa soprano Doreen Taylor-Claxton, for the much-lauded CD "Hail, Canadian Art Song."
Regina filmmaker Steve Wolfson produced the documentary about Mick, "Real Live Poet," YouTube clips: http://bit.ly/2QUN7v6.
Poet, songwriter, editor, teacher, and mentor, Mick and his body of work will long be cherished by all those artists who labour in the service of creating truth and beauty.
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