Rhea Tregebov

Rhea Tregebov
Tregebov in May 2019
Born	1953 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Occupation	Author
Genre	Poetry, Fiction, Children's Literature

Rhea Tregebov (born 1953) is a Canadian poet, novelist and children's writer who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. In her work as teacher and editor, she has mentored and inspired generations of Canadian poets . Her poetry is characterized by a strong poetic voice, intellectual honesty, and a compassionate engagement with the extraordinary lived experience of “ordinary” life. An early influence was Pablo Neruda: “And it was at that age … Poetry arrived/in search of me. […] there I was without a face/and it touched me.” (from “Poesía”). Tregebov is also the author of two novels, Rue des Rosiers and The Knife-Sharpener’s Bell, as well as five popular children’s picture books.

Background

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Tregebov attended the University of Manitoba, Cornell and Boston universities. For many years she lived in Toronto, working as a freelance writer, editor, and Creative Writing Instructor. She taught Continuing Education for Ryerson University and was on faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts. In January 2005 she has hired by the Creative Writing Program at the University of British Columbia, where she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012. At UBC she specialized in poetry, writing for children, and translation. In June 2017, she retired from UBC; she currently is an Associate Professor Emerita.

Bibliography

Poetry

• Remembering History – 1982 (winner of the Pat Lowther Award), ISBN 0-919349-16-1
• No One We Know – 1986, ISBN 0-920544-44-4
• The Proving Grounds – 1991, ISBN 1-55065-018-1
• Mapping the Chaos – 1995, ISBN 1-55065-070-X
• The Strength of Materials – 2001, ISBN 0-919897-76-2
• (alive): Selected and new poems – 2004, ISBN 0-919897-98-3
• All Souls' 2012 ISBN 9781550653380
• Talking to Strangers 2024 ISBN 9781550656565

Children's books

• The Extraordinary Ordinary Everything Room – 1991, ISBN 0-929005-24-4
• The Big Storm – 1992, ISBN 1-55074-081-4
• Sasha and the Wiggly Tooth – 1993, ISBN 0-929005-51-1
• Sasha and the Wind – 1996, ISBN 0-929005-84-8
• What-If Sara – 1999, ISBN 1-896764-22-3

Novels

• The Knife Sharpener's Bell – 2009, ISBN 978-1-55050-408-8
• Rue des Rosiers – 2019, ISBN 978-1-55050-699-0

Further reading

• Donna Krolik Hollenberg, “Gender, Jewish Identity, and Cultural Memory in the Poetry of Rhea Tregebov”, Canadian Jewish Studies / Études Juives Canadiennes vol. 11, 2003.
• Adam Sol, David S. Koffman, Gary Barwin, Michael Greenstein, Ruth Panofsky, Lisa Richter, Emily Robins Sharpe, and Rhea Tregebov, “Canadian Jewish Poetry: A Roundtable”, Canadian Jewish Studies / Études Juives Canadiennes vol. 34, 2022.