酷我-北美枫

[anna]

Launch of Milton Acorn Selected to be at Parliament Street Library (July 12th)



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Allan Garden’s Free Speech Movement in July 1962, Mosaic Press and the Parliament Street Public Library are sponsoring an evening celebrating that important cultural and political event in Toronto’s history on Thursday, July 12, from 6:30 pm to 8:00pm

The library will host the launch of Mosaic Press’s new selected poems of Milton Acorn: In A Springtime Instant. Acorn, who later read with his people’s poetry colleagues at the Parliament Street Library, spearheaded the free speech struggle in Allan Gardens in the summer of 1962, when along with other Toronto poets and cultural figures, such as Joe Rosenblatt, he was able to change Toronto bylaws to allow poets to read their works in Toronto parks without penalty by courageously reading his politically and socially critical poetry to large crowds in front of Robbie Burns’ statue in the Gardens. In this, he anticipated the current OCCUPY movement by half century.

The program will feature a talk on Acorn’s literary contribution by long-time Acorn friend and editor of the new book James Deahl, a background to the Allan Gardens issue by Humber College teacher Terry Barker, poetry about Acorn by Purdyfest coordinator Chris Faiers and Poet Anna Yin, music by Toronto Artist Honey Novick, and readings of Acorn's poetry and current political poets.

Special guests will be include Acorn biographer Chris Gudgeon, and Acorn friend, scholar Joyce Wayne.

There will be light refreshments, and those interested are invited to join Acorn friends for an informal tour of the nearby Allan Gardens site from 4:00 to 5:00 pm.

Parliament Street Public Library is located at 269 Gerrard Street East at the corner of Parliament Street. Phone: 416-393-7798

The Acorn event will be held in the upstairs meeting room.


For further information please contact Terry Barker at 416-491-8676
or Chris Faiers at [email protected]

or visit the blog Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens:
http://riffsandripplesfromzenrivergardens.blogspot.com/

Milton Acorn : Biography


Biography / Poet Home | Poems | Writing Philosophy | Publications | Criticism | Other Information

From: James Deahl. "Introduction," The Northern Red Oak, ed. with intro. by James Deahl. Toronto: Unfinished Monument Press, 1987.

Milton James Rhode Acorn : 1923-1986
He was born in Charlottetown on March 30, 1923. He died of heart disease and diabetes on August 20, 1986 in his home town. He was, and remains, Canada's national poet.

The Northern Red Oak, poems for and about Milton Acorn, is published on the first anniversary of his death. The spirit of Milton touched every person that he met. As Gwendolyn MacEwen has written—"You could go for years without seeing him, and yet he'll always be there somehow, a great craggy presence at the back of your mind, a gnarled tree in silhouette on the horizon." Or, in the words of Al Purdy, "the Acorn-tree always walked on its roots, and always into sunlight. It lifts the heart."
Poems

The Island
I Shout Love
What I Know Of God Is This
Hummingbird
Live With Me On Earth Under the Invisible Daylight Moon
The Natural History of Elephants

And Milton met a lot of people, especially poets, in his journeys across Canada. Wherever he was he collected people like some sort of modern Pied Piper. Not only did he live from coast to coast, he was a tireless reader, and was always about to hop a train to some new part of the country. He forged strong literary and personal links in each area of Canada he visited.
The Montreal Years

Milton began to focus his attention on the writing of poetry in 1950. His first slim collection, In Love and Anger, was published in Montreal in 1956. It was about this time that Milton's only child was born, a son who was later given up for adoption. Having published sixteen poems, he decided to meet some other poets and he tracked down Al Purdy and Irving Layton in 1957. He was soon deeply involved in the whole Montreal literary scene that included, among others, Louis Dudek and Frank Scott.

Montreal was always an important centre for Milton. Many of the poets he most admired—Dorothy Livesay and the so-called Montreal Group of Scott, A.J.M. Smith, A.M. Klein, and Leo Kennedy—were associated with that city. To Milton, the heart of modern Canadian poety was New Provinces and the long list of poets who had clustered around McGill University since the 1920s. Nonetheless, no sooner had Milton established himself in the Montreal poetry scene than he decided to move to Toronto.
The Bohemian Embassy

The chief poetry reading place in Toronto was the Bohemian Embassy, run by Don Cullen and John Robert Colombo. The most important poetry publisher was Contact Press, founded in 1952 by Raymond Souster, Dudek, and Layton to publish the new Canadian poetry. Milton quickly fell in with Cullen, Colombo, and Souster.

Milton's broadsheet Against a League of Liars was issued by Colombo's Hawkshead Press in 1960, the same year that The Ryerson Press published The Brain's the Target, edited by Al Purdy. Milton set himself up at the Bohemian Embassy and soon found himself at the centre of a sort of informal workshop with a group of younger poets: Margaret Atwood, David Donnell, Dennis Lee, Gwendolyn MacEwen, George Miller, and Joe Rosenblatt. During 1962 Milton was married to MacEwen. After their marriage broke up, he moved to Vancouver.
Souster published Milton's first full-size book, Jawbreakers, through Contact Press in 1963. It remains an outstanding collection and a credit to Souster's judgement.
The West Coast

By the time Milton got established in Vancouver, the BC poetry scene was just getting underway. Milton was a founder of The Georgia Strait, an alternative newspaper still publishing today. Again, he was at the centre of a whole group of poets—Dorothy Livesay, bill bissett, Red and Pat Lane, Maxine Gadd, and Seymour Mayne.

In Vancouver he organized poetry readings at the Advanced Mattress, and was active in the movement against the war in Viet Nam. Lane, bissett, and Mayne set up Very Stone House and began to publish the new West Coast poetry. blewointment press was founded by bissett in 1967, the same year that Talonbooks started operation.
J. Michael Yates founded Sono Nis Press and Bc was in the midst of a blaze of poetry. Writers from all over North America were going to Vancouver; and, in 1969, Milton left town.
Toronto Again

I've Tasted My Blood, Milton's masterwork, was published by The Ryerson Press in 1969. It too was edited by Purdy, who would later edit his huge collection, Dig Up My Heart (McClelland and Stewart, 1983). Milton, fresh from the West Coast and a sort of local hero, soon became the centre of the Toronto poetry scene. In 1970 he was named "The Peoples' Poet" by a host of writers including Layton (who was now in Toronto), Eli Mandel, Atwood, and Rosenblatt.

He lived in the city for a dozen years, blustering around the downtown core and giving workshops, readings, and talks at every poetry venue he came across. The first press he became involved with was NC Press, which brought out More Poems For People (1972) and The Island Means Minago (1975). In 1976 Milton co-founded Steel Rail Publishing, which published Jackpine Sonnets a year later.

Once again, Milton gathered a collection of young poets. I met Milton in 1972. A few years later he joined the LINK Poetry Workshop, which Mike Zizis and I had founded in 1973. He had an immediate impact on our group and was a source of encouragement and controversy. In September, 1980, Milton, Terry Barker, and I founded the Susan Chakraverty Institute at New College, University of Toronto. Milton also taught poetry at the legendary Three Schools.

Milton and I shared an apartment for two years. His love of poetry and his constant, obsessive work astound me to this day. Among the poets associated with Milton during his second period in Toronto were Zizis, Joe Blades, Michael Dudley, Chris Faiers, Mark Gordon, Bruce Meyer, Ted Plantos, Robert Priest, Margaret Saunders, and Gerry Shikatani. By this time Toronto had become the centre of English-language poetry in Canada. Milton, in declining health, returned to Charlottetown.
The Island

Milton's final years (1981-1986) were largely spent in PEI. There were, of course, numerous trips to Toronto, where he met poets like Bev Daurio, Carol Malyon, and Wayne Ray.
In Charlottetown Milton got to know Libby Oughton and Richard Lemm of Ragweed Press, who published Captain Neal MacDougal & the Naked Goddess (1982), edited by Fred Cogswell. Here, too, he met Valerie LaPointe, who was his steadfast comnpanion during his last years.

At the time of Milton's death, Wayne Ray was about to publish Whiskey Jack (HMS Press); Chris Faiers was about to publish A Stand of Jackpine (Unfinished Monument Press); and I had agreed to edit The Uncollected Acorn for Deneau Publishers. Ted Plantos had a special Milton Acorn issue of Cross-Canada Writers' Quarterly almost at the printers— it would become the Milton Acorn memorial issue.
Acorn and Canadian Poetry

Milton always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. He made it to Montreal while that city was still the centre of English-language literature. He moved to Toronto just when the generation of poets who would make Toronto the new centre were starting out. He met them all. He was in Vancouver when the West Coast scene got going. Then it was Toronto again and another circle of poets.

Milton saw himself as following the tradition in Canadian poetry established in the nineteenth century by Isabella Valancy Crawford and Archibald Lampman. He learned much from Crawford and Lampman and from two poets whom he met later: Dorothy Livesay and A1 Purdy. Milton, along with Livesay and Purdy, forms a sort of bridge between Canada's past and the new poets of the 1960s, 7os, and 8os. For the record, Milton saw this tradition being carried on today by Margaret Atwood, bill bissett, James Deahl, Mary di Michele, Chris Faiers, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Robin Mathews, Robert Priest, and Tom Wayman (a list that might amaze many critics as well as some of the poets listed!).
Acorn's opinion aside, his real influence lay in his ready encouragement of younger poets. In Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, or Charlottetown, Milton was always exceptionally generous with his time. He would tirelessly read manuscripts, encourage authors, and give sound advice. He was the most accessible literary figure in Canada.

He would attend poetry readings and almost always stay for the open set. Through the Bohemian Embassy workshop and the LINK Poetry Workshop he met scores of young, mostly unpublished poets. These people learned from Milton his concern for language and sound, his doctrine of hard work, and his love of people. He also gave countless readings. His passionate delivery and personal rapport with his audience helped put the voice back into Canadian poetry. Milton was at all times pro-human or, as Lesley McAllister has written in The Toronto Star, "pro-life". He believed in the human spirit and in the celebration of life in all its forms.

Milton's taste was exceptionally catholic, as long as the poetry reflected a love for humanity and the natural world. He was supportive of Michael Dudley's haiku, Atwood's Canadianism (or, as he put it, "From the Valleyism"), Wayman's work poetry, and bissett's pure energy.

He was a nationalist, constantly recommending the poetry of Livesay, Layton, Purdy, and MacEwen. And he was an internationalist, insisting that young poets read W.B. Yeats, Robert Lowell, Pablo Neruda, Garcia Lorca, and Andrei Voznesensky. Indeed, one could not visit him at the Waverley Hotel without having a book thrust into one's hands that must be read.

Almost all the contributors to The Northern Red Oak knew Milton personally. Some are old friends like Purdy, MacEwen, and Atwood; some only met him during his final years. Some (Cogswell, Purdy, and I) edited Milton's books, and some were his publishers (Daurio, Faiers, Letore, and Ray). All have been touched in a profound way by Milton and his work.
When Milton died I decided to produce a memorial anthology—so many people seemed to need to express their love and respect for the man who ate, slept, and lived poetry. The call for submissions met with great success. Unfortunately, much publishable work had to be returned because of space limitations. This memorial anthology could have been twice as long had poetry from all of Milton's friends been included.

Many of the pieces presented here came with the words "For Milton Acorn" attached to them. These have been deleted for cleaner presentation and because, in an important sense, every poem in The Northern Red Oak is for Milton.

A few are o1d poems. Purdy's "House Guest" relates to the time he and Milton lived together at Roblin Lake. bissett's are from his Vancouver years with Milton. "The House", by Gwen MacEwen, recalls the time and mood of their year together in Toronto. Some are elegies to the finest poet ever to write in Canada. And others, like Ray's anti-abortion haiku and Shikatani's anti-war poem, touch on issues that were of great concern to Milton. Still others, such as "1838" (Lee) and "At the Tourist Centre in Boston" (Atwood), are poems that Milton particularly liked.
This collection is but a small gesture from the contributors to one whose gift to poetry and to the Canadian people can never be repaid.

To you, Milton, from your friends, with abiding love.

James Deahl
Toronto, 1987
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

Launch of Milton Acorn Selected to be at Parliament Street Library (July 12th)



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Allan Garden’s Free Speech Movement in July 1962, Mosaic Press and the Parliament Street Public Library are sponsoring an evening celebrating that important cultural and political event in Toronto’s history on Thursday, July 12, from 6:30 pm to 8:00pm

The library will host the launch of Mosaic Press’s new selected poems of Milton Acorn: In A Springtime Instant. Acorn, who later read with his people’s poetry colleagues at the Parliament Street Library, spearheaded the free speech struggle in Allan Gardens in the summer of 1962, when along with other Toronto poets and cultural figures, such as Joe Rosenblatt, he was able to change Toronto bylaws to allow poets to read their works in Toronto parks without penalty by courageously reading his politically and socially critical poetry to large crowds in front of Robbie Burns’ statue in the Gardens. In this, he anticipated the current OCCUPY movement by half century.

The program will feature a talk on Acorn’s literary contribution by long-time Acorn friend and editor of the new book James Deahl, a background to the Allan Gardens issue by Humber College teacher Terry Barker, poetry about Acorn by Purdyfest coordinator Chris Faiers and Poet Anna Yin, music by Toronto Artist Honey Novick, and readings of Acorn's poetry and current political poets.

Special guests will be include Acorn biographer Chris Gudgeon, and Acorn friend, scholar Joyce Wayne.

There will be light refreshments, and those interested are invited to join Acorn friends for an informal tour of the nearby Allan Gardens site from 4:00 to 5:00 pm.

Parliament Street Public Library is located at 269 Gerrard Street East at the corner of Parliament Street. Phone: 416-393-7798

The Acorn event will be held in the upstairs meeting room.


For further information please contact Terry Barker at 416-491-8676
or Chris Faiers at [email protected]

or visit the blog Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens:
http://riffsandripplesfromzenrivergardens.blogspot.com/

Milton Acorn : Biography


Biography / Poet Home | Poems | Writing Philosophy | Publications | Criticism | Other Information

From: James Deahl. "Introduction," The Northern Red Oak, ed. with intro. by James Deahl. Toronto: Unfinished Monument Press, 1987.

Milton James Rhode Acorn : 1923-1986
He was born in Charlottetown on March 30, 1923. He died of heart disease and diabetes on August 20, 1986 in his home town. He was, and remains, Canada's national poet.

The Northern Red Oak, poems for and about Milton Acorn, is published on the first anniversary of his death. The spirit of Milton touched every person that he met. As Gwendolyn MacEwen has written—"You could go for years without seeing him, and yet he'll always be there somehow, a great craggy presence at the back of your mind, a gnarled tree in silhouette on the horizon." Or, in the words of Al Purdy, "the Acorn-tree always walked on its roots, and always into sunlight. It lifts the heart."
Poems

The Island
I Shout Love
What I Know Of God Is This
Hummingbird
Live With Me On Earth Under the Invisible Daylight Moon
The Natural History of Elephants

And Milton met a lot of people, especially poets, in his journeys across Canada. Wherever he was he collected people like some sort of modern Pied Piper. Not only did he live from coast to coast, he was a tireless reader, and was always about to hop a train to some new part of the country. He forged strong literary and personal links in each area of Canada he visited.
The Montreal Years

Milton began to focus his attention on the writing of poetry in 1950. His first slim collection, In Love and Anger, was published in Montreal in 1956. It was about this time that Milton's only child was born, a son who was later given up for adoption. Having published sixteen poems, he decided to meet some other poets and he tracked down Al Purdy and Irving Layton in 1957. He was soon deeply involved in the whole Montreal literary scene that included, among others, Louis Dudek and Frank Scott.

Montreal was always an important centre for Milton. Many of the poets he most admired—Dorothy Livesay and the so-called Montreal Group of Scott, A.J.M. Smith, A.M. Klein, and Leo Kennedy—were associated with that city. To Milton, the heart of modern Canadian poety was New Provinces and the long list of poets who had clustered around McGill University since the 1920s. Nonetheless, no sooner had Milton established himself in the Montreal poetry scene than he decided to move to Toronto.
The Bohemian Embassy

The chief poetry reading place in Toronto was the Bohemian Embassy, run by Don Cullen and John Robert Colombo. The most important poetry publisher was Contact Press, founded in 1952 by Raymond Souster, Dudek, and Layton to publish the new Canadian poetry. Milton quickly fell in with Cullen, Colombo, and Souster.

Milton's broadsheet Against a League of Liars was issued by Colombo's Hawkshead Press in 1960, the same year that The Ryerson Press published The Brain's the Target, edited by Al Purdy. Milton set himself up at the Bohemian Embassy and soon found himself at the centre of a sort of informal workshop with a group of younger poets: Margaret Atwood, David Donnell, Dennis Lee, Gwendolyn MacEwen, George Miller, and Joe Rosenblatt. During 1962 Milton was married to MacEwen. After their marriage broke up, he moved to Vancouver.
Souster published Milton's first full-size book, Jawbreakers, through Contact Press in 1963. It remains an outstanding collection and a credit to Souster's judgement.
The West Coast

By the time Milton got established in Vancouver, the BC poetry scene was just getting underway. Milton was a founder of The Georgia Strait, an alternative newspaper still publishing today. Again, he was at the centre of a whole group of poets—Dorothy Livesay, bill bissett, Red and Pat Lane, Maxine Gadd, and Seymour Mayne.

In Vancouver he organized poetry readings at the Advanced Mattress, and was active in the movement against the war in Viet Nam. Lane, bissett, and Mayne set up Very Stone House and began to publish the new West Coast poetry. blewointment press was founded by bissett in 1967, the same year that Talonbooks started operation.
J. Michael Yates founded Sono Nis Press and Bc was in the midst of a blaze of poetry. Writers from all over North America were going to Vancouver; and, in 1969, Milton left town.
Toronto Again

I've Tasted My Blood, Milton's masterwork, was published by The Ryerson Press in 1969. It too was edited by Purdy, who would later edit his huge collection, Dig Up My Heart (McClelland and Stewart, 1983). Milton, fresh from the West Coast and a sort of local hero, soon became the centre of the Toronto poetry scene. In 1970 he was named "The Peoples' Poet" by a host of writers including Layton (who was now in Toronto), Eli Mandel, Atwood, and Rosenblatt.

He lived in the city for a dozen years, blustering around the downtown core and giving workshops, readings, and talks at every poetry venue he came across. The first press he became involved with was NC Press, which brought out More Poems For People (1972) and The Island Means Minago (1975). In 1976 Milton co-founded Steel Rail Publishing, which published Jackpine Sonnets a year later.

Once again, Milton gathered a collection of young poets. I met Milton in 1972. A few years later he joined the LINK Poetry Workshop, which Mike Zizis and I had founded in 1973. He had an immediate impact on our group and was a source of encouragement and controversy. In September, 1980, Milton, Terry Barker, and I founded the Susan Chakraverty Institute at New College, University of Toronto. Milton also taught poetry at the legendary Three Schools.

Milton and I shared an apartment for two years. His love of poetry and his constant, obsessive work astound me to this day. Among the poets associated with Milton during his second period in Toronto were Zizis, Joe Blades, Michael Dudley, Chris Faiers, Mark Gordon, Bruce Meyer, Ted Plantos, Robert Priest, Margaret Saunders, and Gerry Shikatani. By this time Toronto had become the centre of English-language poetry in Canada. Milton, in declining health, returned to Charlottetown.
The Island

Milton's final years (1981-1986) were largely spent in PEI. There were, of course, numerous trips to Toronto, where he met poets like Bev Daurio, Carol Malyon, and Wayne Ray.
In Charlottetown Milton got to know Libby Oughton and Richard Lemm of Ragweed Press, who published Captain Neal MacDougal & the Naked Goddess (1982), edited by Fred Cogswell. Here, too, he met Valerie LaPointe, who was his steadfast comnpanion during his last years.

At the time of Milton's death, Wayne Ray was about to publish Whiskey Jack (HMS Press); Chris Faiers was about to publish A Stand of Jackpine (Unfinished Monument Press); and I had agreed to edit The Uncollected Acorn for Deneau Publishers. Ted Plantos had a special Milton Acorn issue of Cross-Canada Writers' Quarterly almost at the printers— it would become the Milton Acorn memorial issue.
Acorn and Canadian Poetry

Milton always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. He made it to Montreal while that city was still the centre of English-language literature. He moved to Toronto just when the generation of poets who would make Toronto the new centre were starting out. He met them all. He was in Vancouver when the West Coast scene got going. Then it was Toronto again and another circle of poets.

Milton saw himself as following the tradition in Canadian poetry established in the nineteenth century by Isabella Valancy Crawford and Archibald Lampman. He learned much from Crawford and Lampman and from two poets whom he met later: Dorothy Livesay and A1 Purdy. Milton, along with Livesay and Purdy, forms a sort of bridge between Canada's past and the new poets of the 1960s, 7os, and 8os. For the record, Milton saw this tradition being carried on today by Margaret Atwood, bill bissett, James Deahl, Mary di Michele, Chris Faiers, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Robin Mathews, Robert Priest, and Tom Wayman (a list that might amaze many critics as well as some of the poets listed!).
Acorn's opinion aside, his real influence lay in his ready encouragement of younger poets. In Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, or Charlottetown, Milton was always exceptionally generous with his time. He would tirelessly read manuscripts, encourage authors, and give sound advice. He was the most accessible literary figure in Canada.

He would attend poetry readings and almost always stay for the open set. Through the Bohemian Embassy workshop and the LINK Poetry Workshop he met scores of young, mostly unpublished poets. These people learned from Milton his concern for language and sound, his doctrine of hard work, and his love of people. He also gave countless readings. His passionate delivery and personal rapport with his audience helped put the voice back into Canadian poetry. Milton was at all times pro-human or, as Lesley McAllister has written in The Toronto Star, "pro-life". He believed in the human spirit and in the celebration of life in all its forms.

Milton's taste was exceptionally catholic, as long as the poetry reflected a love for humanity and the natural world. He was supportive of Michael Dudley's haiku, Atwood's Canadianism (or, as he put it, "From the Valleyism"), Wayman's work poetry, and bissett's pure energy.

He was a nationalist, constantly recommending the poetry of Livesay, Layton, Purdy, and MacEwen. And he was an internationalist, insisting that young poets read W.B. Yeats, Robert Lowell, Pablo Neruda, Garcia Lorca, and Andrei Voznesensky. Indeed, one could not visit him at the Waverley Hotel without having a book thrust into one's hands that must be read.

Almost all the contributors to The Northern Red Oak knew Milton personally. Some are old friends like Purdy, MacEwen, and Atwood; some only met him during his final years. Some (Cogswell, Purdy, and I) edited Milton's books, and some were his publishers (Daurio, Faiers, Letore, and Ray). All have been touched in a profound way by Milton and his work.
When Milton died I decided to produce a memorial anthology—so many people seemed to need to express their love and respect for the man who ate, slept, and lived poetry. The call for submissions met with great success. Unfortunately, much publishable work had to be returned because of space limitations. This memorial anthology could have been twice as long had poetry from all of Milton's friends been included.

Many of the pieces presented here came with the words "For Milton Acorn" attached to them. These have been deleted for cleaner presentation and because, in an important sense, every poem in The Northern Red Oak is for Milton.

A few are o1d poems. Purdy's "House Guest" relates to the time he and Milton lived together at Roblin Lake. bissett's are from his Vancouver years with Milton. "The House", by Gwen MacEwen, recalls the time and mood of their year together in Toronto. Some are elegies to the finest poet ever to write in Canada. And others, like Ray's anti-abortion haiku and Shikatani's anti-war poem, touch on issues that were of great concern to Milton. Still others, such as "1838" (Lee) and "At the Tourist Centre in Boston" (Atwood), are poems that Milton particularly liked.
This collection is but a small gesture from the contributors to one whose gift to poetry and to the Canadian people can never be repaid.

To you, Milton, from your friends, with abiding love.

James Deahl
Toronto, 1987
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[anna]

and Open Mic from 4:00 to 5:00 pm welcome everyone!
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

and Open Mic from 4:00 to 5:00 pm welcome everyone!
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[anna]

poster：

http://www.annapoetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/AcornFlyer2.pdf
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

poster：

http://www.annapoetry.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/AcornFlyer2.pdf
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[anna]

review of the book


reflective review: New Selected of Milton Acorn















IN A SPRINGTIME INSTANT: The Selected Poems of Milton Acorn 1950 - 1986
Edited by James Deahl
Mosaic Press, Oakville, Ontario, 2012
248 pages $24.95
ISBN 0-88962-921-9


Genesis
In the book's forward Terry Barker details the genesis of this selected of Canada's People's Poet, Milton Acorn. A chance meeting between Barker and poet Joe Rosenblatt at a Toronto Book Fair several years ago had the two of them reminiscing about Milt, who died a quarter century ago. Both of them felt that Acorn's legacy was fading - in the academy, and among the always fickle and ephemeral Canadian audience for poetry.

And so the two of them acted very unCanadian - they DID something, and the result is this lovingly and painstakingly researched 250 page tribute. The only logical choice for an editor was Acorn's longtime friend and roommate, James Deahl. As I believe there is no better person in Canada to encapsulate the life and creative arc of Canada's many fine poets, this was a perfect match of editor and subject.

Howard Aster and his Mosaic Press were approached with this proposal, and fortunately he was most willing.

Perhaps editor and poetry selector James Deahl knows Acorn's poetry better even than the poet himself did. Deahl's friendship with Milt helped sustain the vulnerable poet for several decades, and on Milt's passing in 1986 Deahl became the torch bearer for Milt's work and legacy. Deahl has continued to advocate for Acorn's work, and to produce a substantial number of posthumous collections of Milt's poetry and the tribute anthology THE NORTHERN RED OAK.


Resurrecting Acorn's Literary Merit
The poems were chosen by editor Deahl solely based on his perception of their literary merit. Barker and Deahl echo each other's belief that Acorn's poetry was and is often under appreciated or even dismissed because of the poet's controversial political and personal life. They hope that after 25 years people are prepared to objectively and critically re-evaluate the entire body of Acorn's work, with hopes that the Canadian literary establishment will take another look and add Milt's poetry to the textbooks and curricula of our institutions. Deahl's thoughtful and challenging 22 page introduction should ably serve as the catalyst for this crucial literary rebalancing and the long awaited and deserved 'resurrection' of Milton Acorn.


Poetry As Catalyst Against Reactionary Harperite Miasma

This is also a crucial time for Canadians politically. The spreading reactionary miasma of the Harperite regime must be countered on the cultural front. Our ineffectual politicians appear neutered by the challenge, and perhaps only the "love and anger", the visceral physicality of the poetry of a People's Poet of Acorn's caliber, can act as a catalyst to stir the Canadian populace to outrage at Stephen Harper's highjacking of our nation.


The Poems
Deahl has done something a bit unusual with organizing the poems - he has presented them in the order in which they appeared in Acorn's 17 collections. Thus early and late poems don't appear in the chronological order in which they were written. Deahl justifies this with his declaration that Acorn wrote excellent poems throughout his entire career, and as a reader I found this mix of the old and the new an intriguing and enjoyable challenge.

After a week reading the book backwards and forwards, or just diving in where the pages fell open late at night, I was amazed at how many of Acorn's poems I recognized and had taken to heart so many decades ago. And I was equally surprised at how many poems I was reading for the first time, and how these immediately adhered to my heart and brain like so many welcome limpets.

Congratulations to James Deahl for his perseverance as the number one scholar of Canada's most important and vibrant poet. And thanks to Howard Aster and the staff at Mosaic Press for this wonderfully produced collection. Special acknowledgments must go to Terry Barker, the 'midwife' of this project, and to Joe Rosenblatt, who also helped will this collection into being.


reflective review by Chris Faiers
April 25, 2012


from my blog, Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens:
http://riffsandripplesfromzenrivergardens.blogspot.com/

published in The Envoy #055 (newsletter of the Canada-Cuba Literary Alliance) May 2012
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

review of the book


reflective review: New Selected of Milton Acorn















IN A SPRINGTIME INSTANT: The Selected Poems of Milton Acorn 1950 - 1986
Edited by James Deahl
Mosaic Press, Oakville, Ontario, 2012
248 pages $24.95
ISBN 0-88962-921-9


Genesis
In the book's forward Terry Barker details the genesis of this selected of Canada's People's Poet, Milton Acorn. A chance meeting between Barker and poet Joe Rosenblatt at a Toronto Book Fair several years ago had the two of them reminiscing about Milt, who died a quarter century ago. Both of them felt that Acorn's legacy was fading - in the academy, and among the always fickle and ephemeral Canadian audience for poetry.

And so the two of them acted very unCanadian - they DID something, and the result is this lovingly and painstakingly researched 250 page tribute. The only logical choice for an editor was Acorn's longtime friend and roommate, James Deahl. As I believe there is no better person in Canada to encapsulate the life and creative arc of Canada's many fine poets, this was a perfect match of editor and subject.

Howard Aster and his Mosaic Press were approached with this proposal, and fortunately he was most willing.

Perhaps editor and poetry selector James Deahl knows Acorn's poetry better even than the poet himself did. Deahl's friendship with Milt helped sustain the vulnerable poet for several decades, and on Milt's passing in 1986 Deahl became the torch bearer for Milt's work and legacy. Deahl has continued to advocate for Acorn's work, and to produce a substantial number of posthumous collections of Milt's poetry and the tribute anthology THE NORTHERN RED OAK.


Resurrecting Acorn's Literary Merit
The poems were chosen by editor Deahl solely based on his perception of their literary merit. Barker and Deahl echo each other's belief that Acorn's poetry was and is often under appreciated or even dismissed because of the poet's controversial political and personal life. They hope that after 25 years people are prepared to objectively and critically re-evaluate the entire body of Acorn's work, with hopes that the Canadian literary establishment will take another look and add Milt's poetry to the textbooks and curricula of our institutions. Deahl's thoughtful and challenging 22 page introduction should ably serve as the catalyst for this crucial literary rebalancing and the long awaited and deserved 'resurrection' of Milton Acorn.


Poetry As Catalyst Against Reactionary Harperite Miasma

This is also a crucial time for Canadians politically. The spreading reactionary miasma of the Harperite regime must be countered on the cultural front. Our ineffectual politicians appear neutered by the challenge, and perhaps only the "love and anger", the visceral physicality of the poetry of a People's Poet of Acorn's caliber, can act as a catalyst to stir the Canadian populace to outrage at Stephen Harper's highjacking of our nation.


The Poems
Deahl has done something a bit unusual with organizing the poems - he has presented them in the order in which they appeared in Acorn's 17 collections. Thus early and late poems don't appear in the chronological order in which they were written. Deahl justifies this with his declaration that Acorn wrote excellent poems throughout his entire career, and as a reader I found this mix of the old and the new an intriguing and enjoyable challenge.

After a week reading the book backwards and forwards, or just diving in where the pages fell open late at night, I was amazed at how many of Acorn's poems I recognized and had taken to heart so many decades ago. And I was equally surprised at how many poems I was reading for the first time, and how these immediately adhered to my heart and brain like so many welcome limpets.

Congratulations to James Deahl for his perseverance as the number one scholar of Canada's most important and vibrant poet. And thanks to Howard Aster and the staff at Mosaic Press for this wonderfully produced collection. Special acknowledgments must go to Terry Barker, the 'midwife' of this project, and to Joe Rosenblatt, who also helped will this collection into being.


reflective review by Chris Faiers
April 25, 2012


from my blog, Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens:
http://riffsandripplesfromzenrivergardens.blogspot.com/

published in The Envoy #055 (newsletter of the Canada-Cuba Literary Alliance) May 2012
_________________
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Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[anna]

Ron Dart's book review of In a Springtime Instant was recently published in IMAGO (Spring 2012: Volume 14, Issue 1).
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

Ron Dart's book review of In a Springtime Instant was recently published in IMAGO (Spring 2012: Volume 14, Issue 1).
_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[anna]

videos and photos are here http://www.annapoetry.com/?page_id=3911

_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com

[[星子安娜]]

videos and photos are here http://www.annapoetry.com/?page_id=3911

_________________
---------------------

Anna Yin

《爱的灯塔-星子安娜双语诗选》
<Nightlights> <Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac> ...

http://annapoetry.com