Dennis Mantin was born in Toronto in 1958. However, he grew up in rural Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, where he was introduced to painting and literature.

Mantin left the east coast for Alberta in 1980 and landed a job as a nude model at the Banff School of Fine Arts with acclaimed American Painter and Sculpter Eric Fischl. Meeting Fischl opened his feelings and eyes to really seeing color and tone; even in the most unexpected places.

In 1992, after having returned to Toronto, Mantin dedicated himself to painting and had the good fortune to meet the extraordinary Canadian poetic Painter Paul Fournier, which ignited a lifelong creative friendship. With Fournier’s mentoring, Dennis mounted his first solo exhibition in an antique store in The Beaches neighborhood of Toronto.

After a decade of painting and exhibitions, raising a family and life circumstances forced Mantin to give his attention elsewhere.

In May of 2014, Mantin renewed his relationship with painting and was invited to share Paul Fournier’s studio, which culminated in a solo exhibition at the Abbozzo Gallery at 401 Richmond Street. The exhibition was called The Meditation and alluded to Mantin’s recent interest and dedication to the practice and study of mindfulness Meditation.

While working on The Meditation, Mantin was encouraged to reexamine his writings, which stimulated a revision of a short screenplay from 20 years earlier.

The short film, a 15-minute drama entitled The Meditation, was written, directed, and produced by Mantin in 2017 and featured world renowned actor Jonathan Hyde of the Royal Shakespearen Academy. Jonathan won best supporting actor at the Top Shorts Online Film Festival, and Dennis received an honorable mention for narrative at the same festival. The film received the Award of Excellence from the Canada Shorts Film Festival in 2017.

Dennis started his WordPress blog in 2013 and has over 2000 posts in the decade that followed.

In the autumn of 2023, Dennis will publish his first novel, ‘LOOK THEM IN THE EYES’ with Canadian publisher Friesen Press.

Dennis is a single father, currently living in Toronto with his 12 years old daughter Zylia and their cat Ned.

Dennis Mantin

I am reading again… Savage Art, a biography about Jim Thompson, the author of The Killer Inside Me & The Grifters.

Here’s a quote:

“There are 32 ways to tell a story, and I’ve used them all. There’s only one plot. Things are not as they seem.”

Brilliant Mr Thompson!

Dennis Mantin

I was tired from the outset.

My brain had just shut down.

We were waiting for the time change.

All the warmth had just left town.

I was living near the freeway..

With small beds of memory foam.

There was nothing to remember.

And no hair was left to comb.

When I tripped on your umbrella

You were huddled under rain.

I was hungry and delirious

I was buckling from the strain.

Then this sound that was like singing.

Sounded like a thing that you might keep.

And I faded off to dream world.

In a deep and monstrous sleep.

I

There was little more than boredom and a rumor of a war.

And 2 days of the weekend, I just didn’t know what for.

So I searched for deeper meaning, as I nodded off to sleep.

And took it all as gratitude for the lessons were not cheap.

I remember when I used to drink and that raging faceless whore.

The party that was out of reach and the need for just one more.

I took it to the limits of, I nearly lost my mind.

There were bruises and concussions and lost keys I’d never find.

Now I suffer from the Boredom, but the pain it isn’t long.

I still don’t suffer fools too well and can admit when I am wrong.

In the microcosm of my work, in the film industry, our transportation team is headed up by a coordinator, a captain, and a co-captain…
Mad Willie told me about a past trio that had gained some notoriety for a mixture of chaos and entertainment. They were known collectively as the alcoholic, the cocaine addict and God.
I will protect their real identities, mainly because I feel strongly about discretion and anonymity… another reason is I consider God to be a close personal friend. 
Dennis Mantin

I am nothing if not present.

And it’s always been that score.

Even when I couldn’t see.

When my back was at the door.

I hear distant sounding music.

Played by someone who was on tour.

Someone who can be that wise.

To know how and why and more.

In those times, I need to listen.

To those who came before.

Sometimes, I just need to be.

In the draft of troubadour.

It is warmer here now.

Just a touch below where water freezes.

The radio voice says the cold is over…

I am older now and better for it.

My kid was late for school and the world didn’t end.

A woman in British Colombia shot some kids at a school and then committed suicide.

The voice on the radio is speaking  now.

The Advisor is still speaking. My response will have to wait.

I know I should be so grateful. There’s so much now on my plate.

There’s this problem I can’t listen. All these voices in my mind.

A warning with some guidelines. With no words described as kind.

I am walking to her closer now. Standing, grinning eye to eye.

The Advisor has gone quiet now. I ask. “You sure it’s not a lie?”

My question has caused confusion. I can see her far off gaze.

She’s going to her safe house, where soft music always plays.

I know it can’t be permanent, someday she will return.

She has so much to teach me and I have so much to learn.

Everyone is cheating.

Except for you and me…

Options here? Slim and none.

Really, none that I can see.

The dreamers left the highlands.

Rumors are they’re coming back.

To the hope of honest smiles.

Where good story fades to black.

I was lost last night in forests.

Traveled far and deep with you.

There was peace and not much cheating.

Then I woke. That’s what I do.