The Arts Council will launch its spring program with a reading by Manitoba writer Dennis Cooley on March 11. Cooley has been described as “Canada’s foremost literary trickster,” notorious for his mind-bending word play and his genre-bending experimentation across subjects that can range from the alphabet to geology to vampires. His joy in writing comes through in his often-unbridled wit and humour.
At the same time, Cooley is very much a poet of his place, for decades a vital figure in prairie literature, not only as poet but as scholar, teacher and editor, co-founder of Turnstone Press and prime mover in many initiatives that sustain the writing life in Manitoba. His The Vernacular Muse, published in 1987, remains a landmark study of his field. His poetry has won him awards, including lifetime achievement awards from the League of Canadian Poets and the Manitoba Writers’ Guild.
With degrees from Saskatchewan and a PhD from Rochester NY, Cooley has taught at the University of Manitoba since 1976, and these last three (post-retirement) years have yielded a rich harvest, with a major Robert Kroetsch study and three volumes of poetry: Stones, abecedarium, and Departures.
Cooley has promised to read from earlier volumes and from a new book, The Bestiary, due out in the fall. Come out and meet him at the Arts Centre, Trail and Medusa, at 8 p.m., Saturday, March 11. Admission is by donation, courtesy of the Canada Council and the Sunshine Coast Arts Council.
– Submitted
