Stephen Cain
Professor
Undergraduate Program Director
Office: Atkinson College, 518
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 33705
Email: englud@yorku.ca
Media Requests Welcome
Accepting New Graduate Students
Stephen Cain specializes in Canadian and avant-garde literature, with a particular interest in the aesthetics of Toronto, experimental poetry, the materiality of the book, and the small press in Canada.
Other fields include Avant-garde Movements, Poetry and Poetics, Modern and Contemporary Literature, and the works of bpNichol. He is the editor of bp: beginnings (2014) a critical edition of the early long poems of bpNichol and, with Tim Conley, he has written The Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages (Greenwood, 2006). He was the editor of two special issues of Open Letter: "Breakthrough Nostalgia: Reading Steve McCaffery Then and Now" and "The Little Literary Serial in Canada (1980-2000)". He is also the author of five collections of poetry including False Friends (Book*hug, 2017) and American Standard/ Canada Dry (Coach House, 2005).
Degrees
PhD, York UniversityMA, York University
B.A. (Hon), Queen's University
Appointments
Faculty of Graduate StudiesResearch Interests
bp: beginnings by bpNichol. Toronto: Book*hug, 2014.
An edited collection of Nichol’s early poetry, including a 30 page introduction and 10 pages of bibliographic notes.
“Breakthrough Nostalgia: Reading Steve McCaffery Then and Now” Open Letter (14.7, 2011). 172 pages. Special issue edited with introduction.
The Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages. (with Tim Conley) New York: Greenwood, 2006. 238 pages.
“The Literary Serial in Canada, 1980-2000” Open Letter (11.6, 2002). 140 pages. Special issue edited with introduction.
“Spatiality in the Poetry of Austin A.C. Clarke.” ‘membering Austin Clarke. Ed. Paul Barrett. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2020. 80-94.
“‘A Vision in the UofT Stacks’: bpNichol in the Library.” Avant Canada: Artists, Prophets, Revolutionaries. Eds. Gregory Betts & Christian Bok. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2019. 59-75
“Feeling Ugly: Daniel Jones, Lynn Crosbie, and Canadian Postmodernism’s Second Wave.” Re:reading the Postmodern. Ed. Robert Stacey. Ottawa: U of Ottawa P, 2010. 103-121
"Annexing a Space for Poetry in the New Toronto." The State of the Arts: Living With Culture in Toronto. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2006: 90-99.
"Mapping Raymond Souster's Toronto." The Canadian Modernists Meet. Ed. Dean Irvine. Ottawa: U of Ottawa P, 2005: 59-75.
"The Poetics of R. Murray Schafer." Sound as Sense: Contemporary US Poetry &/in Music. Eds. Michel Delville and Christine Pagnoulle. Brussels: P.I.E.-Peter Lang, 2003: 155-173.
Rev. of Patricia Demers’s Women’s Writing in Canada and J.A. Weingarten’s Sharing the Past. In Canadian Historical Review 102.1 (2021): 196-199.
“Grappling with the Real.” Rev. of John Creary’s Escape from Wreck City, Jason Stefanik’s Night Became Years, and Concetta Principe’s This Real. In Canadian Literature 236 (2018): 136-7.
Rev. of Carmine Starnino’s Lazy Bastardism: Essays and Reviews on Contemporary Poetry. In University of Toronto Quarterly 83.2 (2014): 543-545.
“André Breton in Canada.” Open Letter 15.3 (2013): 37-59.
"Tracing the Web: House of Anansi's Spiderline Editions." Studies in Canadian Literature 25.1 (2000): 111-130.
“Post-Apocalyptic Toronto: Some Generational Views.” Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA). Toronto: June 4, 2022.
“CaNADAda: The Four Horsemen’s Ambivalent Nationalism” Panel for Modern Language Association (MLA), Toronto, Jan. 10, 2021.
“`Circular, Cyclic Avebury’: Marlatt, McCaffery & Nichol’s Notation of the Neolithic.” Text/ Sound/ Performance: Making in Canadian Space. University College Dublin.
“The Toronto Soundscape and Psychogeography.” Congress of the Humanities and
Social Sciences: Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English. Ryerson University, Toronto.
“Poetry as Investigation.” Canadian Writers’ Summit. Harbourfront, Toronto.
“Black Mountain North.” Northeast Modern Language Association. Ryerson University, Toronto
“Writing Paradise: The Literary Representations of the Cameron House and Queen West.” This is Paradise: Art and Artists in Toronto. University of Toronto Art Centre.
False Friends. Toronto: Book*hug, 2017.
I Can Say Interpellation. Toronto: Book*hug, 2011.
Double Helix (with Jay Millar). Toronto: Mercury Press.
American Standard/ Canada Dry. Toronto: Coach House, 2005. Reprinted 2006.
Torontology. Toronto: ECW, 2001.
dyslexicon. Toronto: Coach House, 1999.
“13 + 2 Ways of Looking at Andre Alexis’s Fifteen Dogs.” Great Books Lecture Series, Toronto Public Library.
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2026 | AP/EN4230 3.0 | M | Canadian Short Story | SEMR |
| Winter 2026 | AP/EN2130 3.0 | M | The Short Story | ONLN |
Stephen Cain specializes in Canadian and avant-garde literature, with a particular interest in the aesthetics of Toronto, experimental poetry, the materiality of the book, and the small press in Canada.
Other fields include Avant-garde Movements, Poetry and Poetics, Modern and Contemporary Literature, and the works of bpNichol. He is the editor of bp: beginnings (2014) a critical edition of the early long poems of bpNichol and, with Tim Conley, he has written The Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages (Greenwood, 2006). He was the editor of two special issues of Open Letter: "Breakthrough Nostalgia: Reading Steve McCaffery Then and Now" and "The Little Literary Serial in Canada (1980-2000)". He is also the author of five collections of poetry including False Friends (Book*hug, 2017) and American Standard/ Canada Dry (Coach House, 2005).
Degrees
PhD, York UniversityMA, York University
B.A. (Hon), Queen's University
Appointments
Faculty of Graduate StudiesResearch Interests
All Publications
“Spatiality in the Poetry of Austin A.C. Clarke.” ‘membering Austin Clarke. Ed. Paul Barrett. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2020. 80-94.
“‘A Vision in the UofT Stacks’: bpNichol in the Library.” Avant Canada: Artists, Prophets, Revolutionaries. Eds. Gregory Betts & Christian Bok. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2019. 59-75
“Feeling Ugly: Daniel Jones, Lynn Crosbie, and Canadian Postmodernism’s Second Wave.” Re:reading the Postmodern. Ed. Robert Stacey. Ottawa: U of Ottawa P, 2010. 103-121
"Annexing a Space for Poetry in the New Toronto." The State of the Arts: Living With Culture in Toronto. Toronto: Coach House Books, 2006: 90-99.
"Mapping Raymond Souster's Toronto." The Canadian Modernists Meet. Ed. Dean Irvine. Ottawa: U of Ottawa P, 2005: 59-75.
"The Poetics of R. Murray Schafer." Sound as Sense: Contemporary US Poetry &/in Music. Eds. Michel Delville and Christine Pagnoulle. Brussels: P.I.E.-Peter Lang, 2003: 155-173.
Rev. of Patricia Demers’s Women’s Writing in Canada and J.A. Weingarten’s Sharing the Past. In Canadian Historical Review 102.1 (2021): 196-199.
“Grappling with the Real.” Rev. of John Creary’s Escape from Wreck City, Jason Stefanik’s Night Became Years, and Concetta Principe’s This Real. In Canadian Literature 236 (2018): 136-7.
Rev. of Carmine Starnino’s Lazy Bastardism: Essays and Reviews on Contemporary Poetry. In University of Toronto Quarterly 83.2 (2014): 543-545.
bp: beginnings by bpNichol. Toronto: Book*hug, 2014.
An edited collection of Nichol’s early poetry, including a 30 page introduction and 10 pages of bibliographic notes.
“Breakthrough Nostalgia: Reading Steve McCaffery Then and Now” Open Letter (14.7, 2011). 172 pages. Special issue edited with introduction.
The Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages. (with Tim Conley) New York: Greenwood, 2006. 238 pages.
“The Literary Serial in Canada, 1980-2000” Open Letter (11.6, 2002). 140 pages. Special issue edited with introduction.
“André Breton in Canada.” Open Letter 15.3 (2013): 37-59.
"Tracing the Web: House of Anansi's Spiderline Editions." Studies in Canadian Literature 25.1 (2000): 111-130.
“Post-Apocalyptic Toronto: Some Generational Views.” Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA). Toronto: June 4, 2022.
“CaNADAda: The Four Horsemen’s Ambivalent Nationalism” Panel for Modern Language Association (MLA), Toronto, Jan. 10, 2021.
“`Circular, Cyclic Avebury’: Marlatt, McCaffery & Nichol’s Notation of the Neolithic.” Text/ Sound/ Performance: Making in Canadian Space. University College Dublin.
“The Toronto Soundscape and Psychogeography.” Congress of the Humanities and
Social Sciences: Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English. Ryerson University, Toronto.
“Poetry as Investigation.” Canadian Writers’ Summit. Harbourfront, Toronto.
“Black Mountain North.” Northeast Modern Language Association. Ryerson University, Toronto
“Writing Paradise: The Literary Representations of the Cameron House and Queen West.” This is Paradise: Art and Artists in Toronto. University of Toronto Art Centre.
False Friends. Toronto: Book*hug, 2017.
I Can Say Interpellation. Toronto: Book*hug, 2011.
Double Helix (with Jay Millar). Toronto: Mercury Press.
American Standard/ Canada Dry. Toronto: Coach House, 2005. Reprinted 2006.
Torontology. Toronto: ECW, 2001.
dyslexicon. Toronto: Coach House, 1999.
“13 + 2 Ways of Looking at Andre Alexis’s Fifteen Dogs.” Great Books Lecture Series, Toronto Public Library.
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2026 | AP/EN4230 3.0 | M | Canadian Short Story | SEMR |
| Winter 2026 | AP/EN2130 3.0 | M | The Short Story | ONLN |
