Robert Priest

Robert Priest (born 1951) is a British born Canadian poet, children's author and singer/songwriter. He has written ten books of poetry, two children's novels, 3 children's albums, 4 CDs of songs and poems and has often opined on CBC radio's hit spoken word show "Wordbeat" under the alias "Dr Poetry". He is well known for his aphorisms and his hit: Song Instead of a Kiss. His adult poetry is wide-ranging and much praised while his children's poetry is more tender, underpinned with a utopian hopefulness. Canadian novelist Barbara Gowdy has described him as "the voice of the people and the angels, entwined" and the Toronto star has called him "passionate, cocky, alternately adoring and insulting" Priest's plays, novels and songs, have earned him not only awards and recognition in Canadian literary circles but a growing reader/listenership world wide.