Celebration for Professor Emeritus and poet Brent MacLaine on September 17
Dr. Brent MacLaine, Professor Emeritus of English and renowned poet, will be celebrated for his contributions to the PEI literary community on Thursday, September 17, at 7 pm, in the Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall.
The evening, which will be co-hosted by UPEI Professor Emeritus Richard Lemm and PEI Poet Laureate Bren Simmers, will include readings of MacLaine’s poetry by other Island writers, colleagues, and friends. Hosted by the Bookmark, Charlottetown’s locally owned, independent bookstore, the event is free and open to everyone.
When asked about MacLaine’s contribution to the Island literary community, Lemm said “Brent MacLaine has been highly respected and cherished as a PEI and Atlantic Canadian poet since his first collection, Wind and Root, was published in 2000. For readers and other writers, his poetry has modelled the seamless blending of virtuoso craftsmanship with richly hued substance. His poems meld skillful poetic form and music with finessed emotions, striking perceptions, and memorable insights. Their substance ranges from his rural Island heritage to his time away, from western Canada and Asia to Scotland, Ireland, and Greece, the latter informing his book Athena Becomes a Swallow and Other Voices from The Odyssey. Brent’s poetry mixes down-to-earth and elegant language, fine arts and everyday culture, seriousness and wit, subtly critical irony and heartening sincerity, lament and celebration. His work encompasses venerable traditions and 21st century changes for better and worse, family farms and suburban sprawl, schooners and cruise ships. As a poet, and as a beloved professor of Atlantic Canadian and other literatures for many years at UPEI, Dr. Brent MacLaine is a PEI and Atlantic Canadian treasure.”
MacLaine is the author of six volumes of poetry, including his latest, A Skeptic in Springtime. He grew up in the rural community of Rice Point, PEI, where he returned after teaching at universities in Vancouver, Edmonton, China, and Singapore. His awards for poetry include a League of Canadian Poets prize, the Prince Edward Island Book Award, and the Atlantic Poetry Prize.
