John Pass, the unofficial Poet Laureate of the Sunshine Coast, will have a new book entitled This Was the River coming out in the spring, and he promises a preview of it when he reads at the Arts Centre on Nov. 3. Many of us have followed Pass’s career as he won full national recognition with the Governor General’s award for Stumbling in the Bloom (2006) and later the BC Book Prize’s Dorothy Livesay Award for Crawlspace (2012). At the same time, we know he is thoroughly a part of this place.
Pass and his wife, the writer Theresa Kishkan, settled on the Coast in 1981, built their own home overlooking Sakinaw Lake, raised a family, and worked, taught, and participated in the community for the past 37 years. As the title of the new book suggests, the local natural environment remains a powerful presence in Pass’s work, in both the immediate vividness and the intellectual reach of his poetry.
This will be the last of the Arts Council’s fall program of author readings, so come out and join the celebration and see what new things Pass brings us in This Was the River. He will read at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre at 8 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 3. Admission is by donation, courtesy of the Sunshine Coast Arts Council and the Canada Council of the Arts.
– Submitted by Dick Harrison
