David A. Kent was born in Winnipeg in 1948 and did his undergraduate degree in history and English at the University of Winnipeg (1970). After completing his MA in English at Queen’s University, he taught at the University of British Columbia for two years (1971-1973) before doing a PhD at York in Toronto (1979). He began teaching at Centennial College in Toronto in 1978 and retired at the end of 2011. He has been active in such professional organizations as the Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English and the Modern Language Association of America.

He has published numerous reviews and articles and written, edited, or co-edited a dozen books on a variety of topics, including English poet Christina Rossetti, a family history, a parish history, early modern English literature, Romantic parodies, and religious poetry. He has a special interest in Canadian poet Margaret Avison.

Together with his wife, Margo Swiss, he began The St. Thomas Poetry Series at St. Thomas’s Church, Huron Street, in Toronto in 1988. In 1996 the readings series was complemented by the publication of books by Christian poets. The series is ongoing. As of 2012, twenty-six publications have been issued.

• English