Al Purdy Week on blueskiespoetry.ca

The League of Canadian Poets has declared Tuesday, April 21, “National Al Purdy Day,” as a tribute to the man widely regarded as Canada’s first true national poet.

In celebration of the legacy left to Canadian poetry by this influential writer, I am pleased to present a week of poetry by Alberta members of the League of Canadian Poets, as they pay tribute to this writer and his impact on Canadian poetry.

To find out more about Al Purdy and read some of his poems, click here, or here to read the Canadian Encyclopedia’s entry on Purdy.

To listen to a series chronicling Al Purdy’s life and career, including excerpts of Purdy himself reading his work, visit CBC Radio’s Archives.

The “Purdy A-Frame Trust” has been started to raise funds to preserve Purdy’s famous home in Ameliasburg, Ontario. For more information or to make a contribution to the Trust contact: Jean Baird, 4403 West 11th Ave., Vancouver, BC, V6R 2M2. Phone: 604 224 4898 or email: jeanbaird@shaw.ca

We hope you enjoy these tributes – my thanks to the poets who have contributed work:

April 21: Catherine Owen – “The Last Canadian Poet”
April 22: Bob Stallworthy – “Fountain of Youth”
April 23: Angela Kublik – “Fire Tower on Nose Mountain”
April 24: Joyce Harries – “Not at the Quinte Hotel”
April 25: Dymphny Dronyk – “Ode to Al Purdy – A Litter of Poets”

Angela Kublik
Editor, blueskiespoetry.ca

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