Draft:Ed Varney

• Comment: In preparing this draft, I disclose that AI assistance was used as follows: I used AI to help me find some of the sources and links. I also used to to help correct some of my grammar and check spelling. I wrote the content. KTVEE (talk) 17:40, 2 October 2026 (UTC)

• Comment: Did you use ChatGPT to create this draft? I see four references where the URL contains "utm_source=chatgpt.com" - see WP:NOLLM GoingBatty (talk) 02:42, 12 September 2026 (UTC)

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Ed (Edwin) Varney (born October 16, 1942, New Rochelle) is a Canadian poet, publisher, visual artist, mail artist, and curator based in British Columbia. He is known for his contributions to the Canadian small press movement and his involvement in Vancouver's experimental poetry scene. In 1969, he co-founded Intermedia Press and co-founded The Poem Factory in 1991. Varney, who also works under the pseudonym Big Dada, became active in the international Mail Art movement and Artistamps in the early 1970s. His visual art practice includes collage, print making, mixed media, artist's books, and conceptual works that explore language, perception, and visual illusions. He has exhibited his art in over 300 exhibitions across 35 countries and his work is housed in collections around the world.

Early life and education

Ed earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Literature from Syracuse University, where he studied under poets Delmore Schwartz and Donald Justice, and printmaker Robert Marx. He moved to Vancouver in 1968 as a draft evader during the Vietnam War where became involved in Vancouver's experimental arts and literary communities.

Career

Publishing and poetry

Ed Varney was a member of the multimedia artists' collective Intermedia. In 1969, he founded its publishing arm, Intermedia Press. He was also a founding member of both the Association of Canadian Publishers and the Literary Press Group.

He ran Intermedia Press with poet Henry Rappaport from 1969 to 1981, where he published 55 poetry collections, 50 novels, anthologies, and trade books by emerging and established writers. Intermedia Press published works by poets and authors including Beth Jankola, Tim Lander, Stanley Cooperman, Pat Lowther, Mona Fertig, Judith Copithorne, bill bissett, Rikki Ducornet, Cathy Ford, Nellie McClung, Avrom Hoffman, and Maxine Gadd.

He was a co-editor of The Poem Company (1970–1974), a member of the Vancouver Poetry Front (1970–1971), one of Canada's early collaborative poetry performance groups, and the founder of the Intermedia Video Band (1970–1972). He later founded the Vancouver Poetry Co-op (1973–1975), was a member of the Vancouver Poetry Quartet (1977–1978) and the Vancouver Surrealist Group (1979–1993), and served as a founding editor of Bite poetry magazine (1985–1988). In 1978, he co-edited Contemporary Surrealist Prose with Dona Sturmanis.

Varney's early poetry explored sound, visual and concrete poetry which were published in international literary magazines and exhibitions. In 1991, he and poet Carolyn Zonailo co-founded The Poem Factory, an independent poetry press that continues to publish poetry collections, chapbooks, and anthologies. He continues to write poetry, host readings and organize poetry events on Vancouver Island, in Courtenay, BC. In 2017, he helped develop the Cascadia Poetry Festival with Paul Nelson.

Mail art projects and artistamps

Beginning in the early 1970s, Ed Varney, who also goes by the name Big Dada, became active in the International Mail Art Movement, exchanging artworks with other artists around the work through snail mail. In 1973, he acquired an 1896 pin-hole stamp perforator, which enabled him to start producing Artistamps. His work was published in Pushing the Envelope: The Evolution of Mail Art in Canada (2007), Eternal Network: A Mail Art Anthology (1994), and Four Decades of Artistamps, from Fluxus to the Internet (2007).

He has organized and curated Mail Art projects, bringing together artists from Canada and abroad who submitted their work via snail mail. A few of his projects include: the First International Artistamp Project (1976), Global Postale 84 (1984), The Mona Lisa Show (1988), Spaceship Earth (1990-1991), The Canadada Elvis Stamp Exhibition (1993), and the First Man on the Moon 25th Anniversary Mail Art Exhibition (1994).

From 1997 to 1999, Varney was the editor and publisher of Artistamp News, an international publication that documents Artistamp artists and projects, which he took over from Anna Banana. He edited and published five issues of DADA Magazine (2020 and 2022), a contemporary reimagining of the magazine originally founded by Tristan Tzara in 1916.

Beginning in the late 1990s, he curated a series of large-scale Mail Art exhibitions, including Art and Artists of the 20th Century (1999-2000), Self Portrait Show (2001), The Human Image in the Landscape (2003), Order from Chaos (2004-2005), the annual Mayworks Mail Art exhibitions (2006-2013), and Mail Art Olympix (2009-2011), which featured more 890 works by 340 artists from 41 countries and toured galleries across British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

Visual art, curation and collection

Varney's visual practice includes collage, mixed media, artist's books, printmaking, and mail art. Varney's visual art practice includes collage, artist's books, and mail art. His work has been documented in exhibition catalogues including Art and Artists of the 20th Century (2001), Mona Lisa and Other Mail Art Projects (1988), and Totem, Signpoles & Markers (1989)

He has also curated dozens of exhibitions, including Art and Artists of the 20th Century (2001) at the Comox Valley Art Gallery and Cut & Paste Collage in Vancouver: An Exhibition of Collages by Vancouver Artist (1999) at the Atrium Gallery.

Varney was also involved in a series of important Vancouver exhibitions that helped shape the city's contemporary art scene. In 1983, he curated Heaven and Hell, an international Mail Art project presented as part of the October Show in Vancouver, featuring 116 contributors from 18 countries. The following year, he organized and co-curated the Warehouse Show (1984), an exhibition of local contemporary art held in Vancouver's former warehouse district. Varney became increasingly involved with Artropolis, serving on its organizing committee from 1984 to 2003. For Artropolis 90: Lineages & Linkages, he was a curator, editor and author, documenting the organization and presentation of an exhibition featuring more than 200 contemporary British Columbia artists. He continued to curate exhibitions as part of Artropolis, including Self Portrait Show (2001) and The Human Image in the Landscape (2003).

Varney is an avid art collector with over an estimated 1,000 works in his collection, the Museo Internacionale de New Art. Some of his collection is highlighted on his website and his Instagram account.

Public art and community work

In the 1990s, Varney managed several public art projects in Vancouver. He served on committees associated with the City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Park Board, including the organizing committee for the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, and was a member of its inaugural board of directors. As a public art consultant for the City of Vancouver, he worked with Rick Gibson and architect Moshe Safdie to develop the city's first public art process for the new Vancouver Public Library, oversee the installation of the Joseph Montague fountain, establish a public art endowment fund, and help create the Vancouver Park Board's first public art policy. In 2015, he sat on a speakers panel, Voice of Fire, at the Comox Valley Art Gallery on the topic of public art and policy

Bibliography

Select published poetry books and chapbooks include:

• Crossroads: Writing at the Speed of Thought. Courtenay, BC, Canada: The Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2025.
• Ineffable: The Mystical Poems. Courtenay, BC, Canada: The Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2022.
• Drift: Poems and Poets from the Comox Valley. Courtenay, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poeme, 2020.
• XOX: A Selection of Concrete, Graphic, and Visual Poems. Courtenay, BC, Canada: The Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2018.
• The Book of Nada. Mayne Island, BC, Canada: Perro Verlag, 2011. Illustrations by Jo Cook.
• Traveller. Courtenay, BC, Canada: The Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2018.
• Everything Just Got Clearer. Courtenay, BC, Canada: The Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2017.
• Drawing the Weather. Courtenay, BC, Canada: Museo Internaçionale de Neu Art, 2016.
• Shadow. Courtenay, BC, Canada: The Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2014.
• Tomorrow Never Comes. Courtenay, BC, Canada: The Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2012.
• Bird. Courtenay, BC, Canada: The Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2011.
• Letter from Hell. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Perro Verlag, 2008.
• Fast Grounded. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2007.
• Dreaming With One Eye Open. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2005.
• Paper Boat. Limited 1st ed. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2002.
• Blue Sky. Limited 1st ed.Vancouver, BC: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 2001.
• What is Poetry - Essays & Poems, Limited 1st ed.Vancouver, BC: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, (1998)

• Walking the Dog Epigrams. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Multicultural Books, First Edition 1992; Revised 2013.

• Entering the World. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 1997.

• The Doomsday Clock. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 1996.
• Nothing Ever Changes. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème,1995.
• Solar Eclipse. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 1994.
• What the Wind Said. Prince George, BC, Canada: Caitlin Press, 1991.
• Cat's Eye. Vancouver, BC, Canada: Poem Factory/Usine de Poème, 1991.
• Bear and Other Poems
• Human Nature. Vancouver, BC: Intermedia Press, 1974.
• Summer Songs. Vancouver, BC: Midnight Press, 1970.
• Openings. Vancouver, BC: Intermedia, 1969.

Essays

• The Evolution of Artistamps

Video Interview

In 2016, Varney was interviewed by Paul Nelson in a one-hour video interview discussing his personal background, artistic practice, and influences. The interview is available on Nelson’s website.

Personal life

Varney lives and works in Royston, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where he continues to write, publish, and produce visual art and artist's books.