VIU Gustafson Distinguished Poet: A.F. Moritz

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Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022
Mar 2. 4 pm. Bldg 108 Room 105 Mar 3. 7 pm. Bldg 355 Room 203

A.F. Moritz, one of Canada’s most esteemed and decorated poets, is VIU’s Ralph Gustafson Distinguished Poet for 2021-22. The annual lecture will take place at the Ralph Gustafson Lecture Theatre in the Arts and Sciences Building (Bldg 355) on March 3 at 7:00 pm at Vancouver Island University’s Nanaimo campus.

His talk, entitled “Poetry: Future Present of the Past” will discuss the phenomenon of what writers choose to let live on the page. “For all my love of writing, reading, books, printed pages, I insist that poetry is in its sound,” writes Moritz. “Then what is the role of the preserved poem, the written poem, the poem perhaps written while it is being sung, bit by bit?” After recently publishing a collection of his selected works, Moritz has come to believe that all poems engage the mystery of what memories and feelings in us are chosen and developed, what is not just experienced but left for posterity.

A.F. Moritz has written over 20 books of poetry, and won numerous awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Griffin Poetry Prize, and the Award in Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has also won the Bess Hokin Award of Poetry magazine, the Elizabeth Matchett Stover Award of the Southwest Review, the ReLit Award, selection to the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets, and three of his books have been named finalists for the Governor General's Award. In 2021, As Far As You Know was a finalist for Ontario's Trillium Award. Moritz is presently the Poet Laureate of the City of Toronto (2019-2023).

Both events are being held at half capacity. Please bring proof of vaccination and ID.

To register for the online stream go to https://ah.viu.ca/gustafson-trust.

To put your name on the list for attendees for one or both events, please email [email protected].