I am an author of literary fiction, with a love of satire, rich plot, and linguistic invention. I am particularly keen on the literary use of a “constructed” form of English employing words of mainly Germanic origin, either living or resuscitated, or coinages based on the same, cf. the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, and the linguistic invention of William Barnes (click here for examples). My first novel Outlaws (more info here) was released in 2017, and I am currently working on a second entitled The Dwarf’s Head (more info here).

 

I am also a composer of mainly vocal music (song and opera), specifically tonal melodic compositions in a style that has strong ties to music before 1800 and which makes conspicuous use of the Medieval modes. The Toronto-based singer Donna Greenberg is in the process of recording a number of my Medievalesque Gothic-language songs, which will make up a projected album entitled Songs of Gothia (more info here). These works figure in my literary novel The Dwarf’s Head, a work in progress.

 

My opera Rumpelstiltskin (more info here) is in the final stages of revision. I have plans for two further such works, one based on Das Nibelungenlied, and the other based on Þrymskviða from the Poetic Edda.

 

I was an early-dance consultant for the Toronto-based company Ballet Espressivo 2003-2008, and was appointed Adjunct Professor of Dance at York University (Toronto) in 2005, in recognition of my contribution to early-dance research (The Styles of Eighteenth-Century Ballet 2003). My extensive research into early-ballet technique will ultimately be published in a projected multi-volume work The Technique of Eighteenth-Century Ballet (more info here).

I am also keenly interested in early Germanic languages (esp. Gothic and Old English) and blog mostly about aspects of Old English. I have had a few articles published on elder-futhark runology as well (more info here).

 

I am a great supporter of the revitalized use of ancient or dead languages. To date, I have translated a couple of children’s stories into Gothic (more info here).

 

I am passionate about the creation of multi-media works and have been active as an assistant director (or rather co-director) to the singer/songwriter Donna Greenberg in the creation of artistic music videos.

 

I studied English literature, music history, and German at the undergraduate level (University of Regina, Canada); linguistics at the graduate level (University of Toronto); classical ballet at the National Ballet School (Toronto); and “Baroque dance” under Elaine Biagi-Turner (Toronto).