English department to co-host gala book launch and poetry celebration

A gala book launch and poetry celebration will be held at the Haviland Club in Charlottetown, on Saturday, May 8, at 7:30-9:30 p.m. The gala is hosted by the UPEI English Department and PEI Writers' Guild.

Hugh MacDonald, the Island's new Poet Laureate, will lead off the evening. David Helwig, recent recipient of the Order of Canada for his distinguished literary career, will launch and read from two new books: Smuggling Donkeys, his latest novella, and The Sway of Otherwise, a sonnet collection 'evoking the vivid realities of summer and winter, love and death,' with the title taken from a poem about walking sandbars on a brilliant summer day.

UPEI professor Richard Lemm will launch his newest poetry collection, Burning House, with poems that range from an undertakers' convention in Charlottetown to his American ancestors' participation in several wars.

There will also be a tribute to John Smith, PEI's first Poet Laureate, with the launch of a special issue of the literary journal Canadian Notes & Queries devoted to John Smith the poet, professor, and friend. The issue is edited by Islander and poet David Hickey.

Laurie Brinklow, publisher of Acorn Press, and recent recipient of a three-year doctoral fellowship to study small island culture at the University of Tasmania, will be m.c. for the evening. Admission is free, books will be for sale, and refreshments will be served.

Contact: Dr. Richard Lemm at (902) 566-0389, rlemm@upei.ca