ROSS BELOT
Writer, translator, photographer and filmmaker
Ross Belot has been writing columns since 2016 for Canada’s National Observer and iPolitics. His voice is unique in Canada as he writes from decades of experience at Imperial Oil where he gained an in-depth knowledge around logistics and economics of crude and refining. He specializes in using data and analysis to speak truth to power. Whether it’s calling out governments, regulators, industry or big enviro he sets out the facts that support his opinions.
He is an acclaimed eco-poet, as a finalist for the CBC Poetry Prize as well as the Montreal International Poetry Prize. Ross’ poetry collection Moving to Climate Change Hours was named one of the best poetry collections of 2020 in Canada by the CBC and one of eleven books that will change your thinking about the climate crisis by Shondaland. He and his poem “First Day” are the subject of the introduction of the book Rough Poets: Reading Oil-Worker Poetry by Dr. Melanie Dennis Unrau.
He and his collaborator Sara Burant have been translating Paul Éluard’s 1932 French Surrealist poetry collection La Vie immédiate. Their work has been well received in the literary translation community with translated poems selected by multiple print and online journals including the Denver Quarterly and Delos: A Translation and World Literature Journal. They are actively seeking a publisher for the full collection.
He is also a filmmaker with his first documentary short “Growing Up Grateful” screened at the Toronto Independent film festival and the Hamilton Film Festival. He received a Canada Council of the Arts grant to make videos of his poetry in 2020. He produced twelve videos, including one that was screened in Athens, Greece at the Athens International Video Poetry Festival.
Search the internet for Pete Townsend or Neil Young and you are likely to find photos of Ross’ illustrating the articles. His main passion though is landscape photography. He believes there is a synergy between his photography work and his poetics. As one of his mentors once said “show me something I didn’t see”. Ross strives for that.
He has an extensive background in presenting his work including The Banff Center for the Arts, the National Arts Centre and NYC’s Bryant Park Reading Room series. He has attended residencies in Banff, Olympic Valley California and Key West Florida. He completed his MFA in Creative Writing at Saint Mary’s College of California in 2017 where he worked with top U.S. poets Brenda Hillman and Matthew Zapruder. He was inducted into the McMaster University Alumni Gallery in 2023.
