Chris Banks (poet)

Chris Banks (born 1970) is a Canadian poet.

Life
Banks' childhood was spent in the small Ontario towns of Stayner, Sioux Lookout, and Bancroft. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Guelph, before moving on to complete a Masters of Arts in Creative Writing from Concordia University and later a Bachelor of Education from the University of Western Ontario. Banks later began teaching at Bluevale Collegiate Institute in Waterloo, Ontario.

Career
Banks' works include a chapbook, Form Letters (2002). His first full-length collection, Bonfires, was awarded the Jack Chalmers Award for poetry by the Canadian Authors' Association in 2004. Bonfires was also a finalist for the Gerald Lampert Award for best first book of poetry in Canada. In 2023, one of his sonnets was published in The Walrus.

Awards and recognition

 * 2004: Canadian Authors Association, winner of poetry award, Bonfires
 * 2004: Finalist for Gerald Lampert Award for poetry, Bonfires
 * 2006: Gowlings Literary Award