69传媒Winter鈥檚 Tales Author Series returns with a memoir from Dr. Richard Lemm
The 69传媒Winter鈥檚 Tales Author Series resumes October 7 with the launch of a memoir from one of PEI鈥檚 most celebrated and beloved poets and teachers, Dr. Richard Lemm, a professor in the 69传媒Department of English.
Lemm, an Islander-by-choice, author, and a professor since 1986, will launch his memoir, , published by Vancouver鈥檚 Tidewater Books, on Thursday, October 7, at 7:30 pm, The Carriage House at Beaconsfield Historic House, 2 Kent Street, Charlottetown. The event will feature CBC Main Street host Matt Rainnie in conversation with Lemm, as well as short readings.
Imagined Truths tells the story of Lemm鈥檚 life, growing up in cool 1960s Seattle, raised by alcoholic grandparents with a mad, absent mother and a mythic father who might or might not have died before he was born. To avoid the draft, he left 鈥渢he greatest country in the world鈥� and moved to Canada just as the Age of Aquarius was dawning. Now, having constructed a new and equally imagined identity, he uses his poet's sensibility to examine the familial myths and cultural privilege that shaped his youth: the unsettled frontier, the golden age of the 1950s, the noble warrior, the 鈥渓ittle woman鈥�, and the inexhaustible natural resources of the Pacific Northwest. This wry, poignant, and insightful memoir looks at growing up in a family and country you did not choose and coming of age in the country and with the people you did.
Dr. Richard Lemm has taught creative writing and literature at the 69传媒 since 1988. He is the author of six poetry collections, a short fiction collection, and a biography of Milton Acorn, Canada鈥檚 People鈥檚 Poet. A past president of The League of Canadian Poets and past co-chair of Access Copyright, he has served on juries for The Canada Council for the Arts, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the CBC Radio Literary Competition, and the Governor General鈥檚 Award for Poetry.
The launch is co-sponsored by the , and the 69传媒English Department and the Dean of Arts. Attendance is currently limited to 50 people. Register in advance at .
