For the inventor, see this Dennis Lee entry.

Dennis Lee (born August 31, 1939) is a Canadian children's writer and poet who lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Lee has a bachelors and masters degree in English from the University of Toronto. While a serious poet, he is best known for his children's writings. His best known work is, perhaps, Alligator Pie. He also wrote the lyrics to the theme song of the show Fraggle Rock. In 1986 he won the Vicky Metcalf Award. He is also a recipient of the Ontario Governor General Award.

In 1967 Lee was among those who founded House of Anansi Press and was its first editor, holding that position for five years, and helping to build Anansi into the acclaimed publisher of poetry and literature that it is today. He is criticial of modern society and education for working to restrict imagination, arguing that children are rooted in a colonial mentality.

During the late 1960s, Lee was involved with the Rochdale College experiment in Toronto.

An example of Lee's poetry

William Lyon Mackenzie King
Sat in a corner and played with string,
Loved his mother like anything,
William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Works

• Kingdom of Absence - 1967
• Wiggle to the Laundromat - 1970
• Civil Elegies and Other Poems - 1972 (winner of 1972 Governor General's Award for Poetry)
• Alligator Pie - 1974
• Nicholas Knock and Other People - 1974
• Garbage Delight - 1977
• Savage Fields - 1977
• The Ordinary Bath - 1979
• The GOds - 1979
• Jelly Belly - 1983
• Lizzy's Lion - 1984
• The Difficulty of Living on Other Planets - 1987
• The Ice Cream Store - 1991
• Riffs - 1993
• Body Music - 1998
• Bubblegum Delicious - 2000
• The Cat and the Wizard - 2001