Award-winning poets, McOrmond and Zieroth at UPEI

First instalment of Winter's Tales Authors' Reading Series goes October 5

Steve McOrmond, winner of the 2007 Atlantic Poetry Award, and David Zieroth, the 2009 winner of the Governor General's Award for Poetry, will give a public reading on Tuesday, October 5, at 7:30 pm in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, Main Building. The evening will include the PEI launch of McOrmond's new book.

McOrmond grew up in Prince Edward Island, graduated from UPEI in English, and received his M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of New Brunswick. His first poetry collection, Lean Days, was published in 2004. Primer for the Hereafter appeared in 2006, and The Good News About Armageddon was published this spring.

Michael DeBeyer writes, in Atlantic Books Today, '…there's both small-town genuineness and urban polish in his work…' Another reviewer says that he 'writes with precision and rich, rich language, about gizmos and lobsters and-with compassion-about the tininess of our lives in this big universe.' For a teaser, 'The Tooth Fairy's Lament' in his new book begins, 'None of the cachet of the fat man / in the red suit. I am soon forgotten / obsolete....' When he's not visiting P.E.I., Steve lives in Toronto with his wife, Janet.

David Zieroth was born in Neepawa, and raised on a Manitoba farm. Rather than follow in his parents' footsteps, he became a naturalist in Kootenay National Park in B.C. He then taught creative writing for many years at Kwantlen College in Vancouver, where he edited the distinguished literary magazine, Event. He was also a resident instructor in the summer creative writing program at The Banff Centre for the Arts. Zieroth has published eight books of poetry, four chapbooks, and a memoir, The Education of Mr. Whippoorwill: A Country Boyhood. David Zieroth

The official citation for his Governor General's Award, granted for his collection The Fly in Autumn, states: 'Risking unease, using language both tender and ironic, Zieroth's poems range from the cockiness of flight, from Dick and Jane readers to insurance clerks and blind nurses, and to the inevitability of decline. Still, the poet remains alert to the re-emergence of ‘his boyhood hope: to be brave, to ship out, to learn to sleep on waves.''

Zieroth's and McOrmond's reading is sponsored by the UPEI English Department, with generous support from The Canada Council for the Arts and the League of Canadian Poets. A reception and book signing will follow. Admission is free.

For more information, contact Dr. Richard Lemm, UPEI Department of English, at (902) 566-0592 or rlemm@upei.ca. Authors' websites are: www.stevemcormond.com and www.davidzieroth.com.