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Poet's
Laureate Emeritus Read at POW! Festival
With just over a week to go before the launch of Cobourg's second annual
Poetry's Own Festival, one of the events creating a loud buzz is the appearance
of three former poets laureate on the same stage - Pier Giorgio Di Cicco
of Toronto, Eric Winter of Cobourg and John Steffler, Canada's third parliamentary
poet laureate. As Cobourg resident and critic Richard Greene writes in
his review of Steffler's latest book of poetry;
' John Steffler is a celebrity among Canadian poets, prolific and highly
regarded. Cobourg's poetry impresario, James Pickersgill has persuaded
him to give a reading on April 17 in what will be part of a book-launch
tour for Lookout, his first collection of new poems in a decade published
by McLelland and Stewart. Although Steffler was born in Toronto and now
lives in Montreal, for thirty years he lived in Corner Brook, Newfoundland,
where he taught literature and creative writing at Sir Wilfred Grenfell
College. Many of his poems depict the landscapes of western Newfoundland
- where his eye often falls on limestone, the stuff of bones, "the
dark rock candy of history." His descriptions of such places are
enigmatic and haunting.'
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Steffler felt the
pressures and expectations surrounding the position of Poet Laureate of
Canada. "It was a very busy time and I worked hard to do some good,
to advance the cause of poetry in our nation and to encourage young poets
to believe in the value of art." It was a time of travel, giving
talks and readings. "I didn't write any poems for state occasions,
though I did write a satirical poem about the abuse of language on Parliament
Hill. The whole experience was a great honour."
Like so many poets, Steffler started writing when he was in high school.
"In poetry, we let language off the leash," he says, "we
excite language and thus excite our senses and awareness."
Which Richard Greene echoes, writing of Lookout, "There is a classical
beauty to these poems, a kind of exalted singing, that Steffler conceals
or deflates elsewhere with whimsey and wisecracks. His public reading
will be one of the highlights of the festival.
The Poets Laureate Emeritus readings start at 3.30pm at Meet At 66 King
Street East where copies of Lookout will be available
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