Moose Jaw -
Lt.-Gov. Gordon Barnhart and the Saskatchewan Writers Guild hosted the second annual Poetry Reading at Government House on Thursday in celebration of National Poetry Month.
Saskatchewan poet laureate Robert Currie, along with poets Gerald Hill and Barbara Klar read at the event in front of an audience of 150 people.
"It is quite the honour to be involved in this celebration of poetry," said Currie.
This is the second year that Currie has been invited to speak at the event and thanked Barnhart for holding the reading.
"(Barnhart) is a wonderful supporter of the arts," said Currie.
Currie became Saskatchewan's third poet laureate in 2007 and was appointed to a second term which will run until Dec. 31, 2010.
An award winning author of poetry, fiction and radio plays, Currie's works have appeared in numerous literary magazines and over 40 anthologies.
Currie has written several poetry books and has also written three works of prose, including the novel Teaching Mr. Cutler. His sixth book of poems, Witness, will be published this month.
Currie is also an experienced instructor, teaching creative writing at the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts and at the Sage Hill writing experience. He also taught English at Central Collegiate for 30 years.
Currie first became interested in poetry while at university when he read When We Are Young by Raymond Souster.
"You can start a poem when you have a spare 15 minutes. You can't do that if you are writing a novel. That is one of the reasons poetry appealed to me," said Currie.
Reading more poetry at school helped Currie develop a passion for it as well.
In 1975 Currie co-founded Coteau Books and has helped many Canadian writers publish their works.
Currie is also a founding member of the Saskatchewan Festival of Words.
Colin Dewar can be reached at 691-1263.
