On Jan. 16 York”s Canadian Writers in Person course and reading series presented celebrated poet Susan Goyette, whose first book of poems, The True Names of Birds, was short-listed in 1999 for the Governor General’s Award, the Pat Lowther Award for the Best Book of Poetry by a Canadian Woman and the Gerald Lampert Award for the Best First Book of Poetry.
Series organizer John Unrau of the English Department, Atkinson School of Arts & Letters, sent the following report of the evening.
Sue Goyette, award-winning poet and novelist, read from her book of poems, The True Names of Birds as part of the Canadian Writers in Person series. She also treated the audience to a number of new poems to be published in her forthcoming collection, Undone.
Goyette writes beautifully and believably about childhood, motherhood and neighbourhoods, and many of her poems – some lighthearted, some deeply moving – have been inspired by her children.
The discussion period was devoted to questions about particular poems, as well as questions about the relationship between private experience and the writing of poetry. Goyette”s publisher, Kitty Lewis of Brick Books, was present and talked during the book-signing session to people interested in the Canadian publishing scene.
The Canadian Writers in Person Reading Series, which is free and open to the public, is also part of an introductory course on Canadian literature.