London, Ont.-born poet Christopher Dewdney has always wielded an utterly unique literary perspective, melding the lyricism of a poet with the eye of a scientist, reported the London Free Press June 3. The Toronto-based author and York University writer-in-residence (Dewdney is contract faculty and Glendon’s Writer on the Grounds) was to come home to London for a reading at the Central Library to launch his book, Acquainted With the Night. Subtitled Excursions Through the World After Dark, Dewdney’s most extensive work of prose is simultaneously being published in Great Britain and the US this month.
Dewdney divided the book into 12 parts, each mirroring a different hour of the night. He loads those different sections with discussions about absolutely everything to do with night – insomnia, ladies of the night, sleep disorders, night-time body rhythms, bedtime stories, sunsets, mythology, stars, the speed of night (how fast it moves at different latitudes), nocturnal animals, the northern lights…you name it, wrote freelancer Herman Goodden. In addition to being his longest sustained prose work, it’s also his most heavily researched. “There was also a lot of research, which I really enjoyed,” Dewdney said. “I discovered things I had no idea about, like circadian body rhythms.”
York grad could fill in for Argos’ running back
It’s possible that York University graduate Jeff Johnson, a fifth-year Canadian Football League backup, could be the starter for the Argos on opening day June 15 against the visiting Saskatchewan Roughriders, reported the Toronto Star June 3. Coach Mike Clemons told the Toronto Sun that Johnson, who graduated from York in 2002 with a BA in kinesiology, “will stick with the team at running back no matter what [injured star John] Avery’s status is.”
Basketball centre plays winning game
The Barrie Bandits played their inaugural game in the Ontario Professional Basketball Association at Mohawk College, lighting up the Brantford Connexion 115-83, reported the Barrie Examiner June 2. “We’re having some fun together playing some ball,” said centre Adam Miller, a teacher at Nantyr Shores Secondary School in Innisfil. “It’s a great experience playing basketball and making some money at the same time.” Miller, who played for York University, graduated with a BA in kinesiology in 2002.
Perfectionism research makes more headlines across Canada
Regional newspapers, radio and television media across Canada continue to make headlines of York psychologist Gordon Flett’s research on how perfectionists are subject to health problems. On June 3, newspapers such as the Daily News in Kamloops, BC, the Peterborough Examiner, the Spectator in Hamilton and the Barrie Examiner in Ontario, and the Winnipeg Free Press published the Canadian Press wire story sent out earlier in the week. Broadcasters also highlighted the research June 2 in news reports on Toronto radio stations CHFI-FM and CHUM-FM, and Kitchener’s CHYM-FM, and television stations City-tv and CKEM-TV in Edmonton, and CKVR-TV in Barrie.
On air
- Political scientist Robert Drummond, dean of York University’s Faculty of Arts, discussed why Green Party leader Jim Harris has not been invited to participate in a national leaders debate despite the party having a candidate in every riding in Canada, on “Global News” aired on CIHF-TV in the Maritimes June 2.