deafened as an infant and afflicted with low vision most of his adult life, bruce worked for 15 years as a gardener, labourer, equipment operator, and zamboni driver before returning to school in his late twenties. while working those jobs, his poetry won him a scholarship to study creative writing at the banff school of fine arts with w.o. mitchell. bruce went on to study film and literature at york university, graduating with a bachelor of fine arts (honours).