Beyond Forgetting

"... without a doubt the greatest poet English Canada has ever produced." —Dennis Lee "A hundred years from now, one of the few Canadian poets whose work will still be read will be Al Purdy." —Maclean's Al Purdy (1918–2000), known as Canada's unofficial poet laureate, wrote poetry that anyone could read. Having come from working-class roots with little in terms of formal education, he wrote in a colloquial style and with a rowdy yet sensitive poetic persona that has captured the hearts of many. Purdy was exceptional in the attention he paid to the geography and history of Canada; rather than using his Canada Council grant to write from Europe like many of his contemporaries, he took a trip to Canada's Arctic where he wrote some of his most well-loved poems. His self-built A-frame in the Ontario township of Ameliasburgh also connected him to the land and history of that place, a literary legacy that lives on through the A-frame...