This week we talk with J David Carpenter, a poet and novelist who lives in Prince Edward County. He grew up in Toronto and attended York University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Queen’s University, for his B. Ed. He first worked as a journalist for Daily Racing Form and as a freelance writer, then taught high school English for 25 years. David began his writing career as a poet, publishing four books of poetry between 1976 and 1994. He then turned to crime fiction during the 1990s and has published six novels: The Devil in Me (McClelland &Stewart, 2001) This first novel appeared on the Globe and Mail’s bestseller list and was nominated for an Arthur Ellis Award; his subsequent novels have also received critical acclaim, His most recent books of poetry are All Us Cats on Stage (Cressy Lakeside Books, 2021) and A Road through the Corn: Prince Edward County Poems, 1982-2022 (Cressy Lakeside Books, 2022). He has just completed an MS of list poems and is currently working on a new project which may become a novel. He is also locally known for writing and performing jazz poetry with musical accompaniment.
J D Carpenter
J D Carpenter
This week we welcome back J.D. Carpenter to Word on the Hills. David was born in Toronto in 1948. Some years later, he graduated from York University with a B.A.Hons. and then from Queen’s with a B.Ed. He worked as a journalist for Daily Racing Form in Montreal, Windsor, Fort Erie and Toronto before becoming a teacher. After four years of teaching elementary school, he began 25 years of teaching English and then became Head of Department for Special Education at Leaside High School in Toronto He is the author of six books of poetry. His most recent, A Road through the Corn: Prince Edward County Poems, 1982-2022 was published by Cressy Lakeside Press in 2022. He is also the author of six novels, including a series featuring sleuth Campbell Young and his friends set in the racing world so familiar to this writer. He is at present working on the final draft of Black Tupelo, the concluding volume in this series. The County Murders (Cressy Lakeside, 2016) has a new protagonist, a journalist based in a small town in Prince Edward County.
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J D Carpenter
David Carpenter grew up in Toronto, earned degrees at York University and Queen’s University, taught high school English for 25 years at Leaside High School in Toronto, and ran the Special Education program for 14 of those years. He publishes under the name J D Carpenter and began his writing career as a poet, but later turned to fiction, primarily murder mysteries: The Devil in Me (McClelland & Stewart, 2001); Bright’s Kill (Dundurn Press, 2005); 74 Miles Away (Dundurn Press, 2006); Twelve Trees (Dundurn Press, 2008) and The County Murders (Cressy Lakeside Books, 2016). A second Joe Horn mystery, The Lake Pirates was published by Cressy Lakeside Books in 2020. But David has now returned to writing poetry and has just published a collection, launching October 23rd, at Books and Company in Picton, titled A ROAD THROUGH THE CORN, PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY POEMS 1982-2022, as well as continuing work on a major revision to a Campbell Young mystery which he put aside several years ago. So though he told us that his biography hadn’t altered except in that he had grown several years older since he was last our guest, it seems there’s plenty to add to it
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J. D. Carpenter
This week we are broadcasting one of our favorite episodes from last year with John David Carpenter. David grew up in Toronto, earned degrees at York University and Queen’s University, taught high school English for 25 years at Leaside High School in Toronto, and ran the Special Education programme for 14 of those years. David began his writing career as a poet but in 2001 he turned to writing fiction, primarily murder mysteries. He and his wife Karen live in Prince Edward County
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J. D. Carpenter
Meet J.D. Carpenter. David grew up in Toronto, earned degrees at York and Queen’s, taught high school English for 25 years and ran a Special Education program for 14 of those years. He publishes under the name J D Carpenter and began his writing career as a poet, later switching to fiction, primarily murder mysteries: The Devil in Me (McClelland & Stewart, 2001); Bright’s Kill (Dundurn Press, 2005); 74 Miles Away (Dundurn Press, 2006); Twelve Trees (Dundurn Press, 2008) and The County Murders (Cressy Lakeside Books, 2016). A second Joe Horn mystery, The Lake Pirates was published by Cressy Lakeside Books in 2020. Now David has returned to writing poetry as well as planning a major revision to a Campbell Young mystery which he put aside several years ago. So, though he told us that his biography hadn’t altered except in that he had grown two years older since he was last our guest, it seems there’s plenty to add to it. Today he tells us about his recent work and current projects
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