UNIVERSITY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Poet and novelist John Steffler to give reading and workshop at UPEI in late March

John Steffler, one of Canada's most highly respected authors, will give a public reading of his poem, "That Night We Were Ravenous," in the Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, UPEI, on Thursday, March 27, at 7:00 pm. The imaginative poem is about a near-fatal encounter with a moose on a Newfoundland highway at night.

John Steffler

Steffler will also give a writing workshop on Saturday, March 29, from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm, in Room 335, SDU Main Building, UPEI. This workshop will centre on a "Caught in Time" exercise. This involves considering an object, person, or event as part of a continuum: a series of choices, influences, accidents, or transformations. The workshop will include time for participants to write and take part in a group discussion of drafts and ideas. The fee is $50. The fee for seniors and students is $40. To register, contact: rlemm@upei.ca.

Steffler was Canada's Parliamentary Poet from 2006-2008. Originally from Ontario, he taught for many years at the Corner Brook campus of Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador. His poetry often evokes the natural world, including ecological concerns, and delves into family, community, and regional history.

The Grey Islands, the story of his pilgrimage to a remote Newfoundland island, is a classic of Canadian wilderness writing. A novel, The Afterlife of George Cartwright, concerns the first European settlers in Labrador: an adventurer from a prominent British family, his companion Mrs. Selby, and the Inuit he trades with and tries to "civilize."

Steffler's reading and workshop are sponsored by the UPEI Faculty of Arts and Department of English, and the Bookmark. Admission is free.