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On not losing my father's ashes in the flood / Richard Harrison.

by Harrison, Richard, 1957-

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Buckrider Books, 2016.

Canadian poetry -- 21st century

Fathers and sons -- Poetry

Dementia -- Patients -- Poetry.

Loss (Psychology) -- Poetry.

Poetry -- Influence.

Governor General's Award.

9781928088226 (pbk.)

83 pages : portrait ; 23 cm

"In his final years, Richard Harrison's father suffered from a form of dementia, but he died without ever forgetting the poems he had memorized as a student and had taught to Richard as a child. In 2013, the poet feared his father's ashes had been lost in the flood water that ravaged Alberta--a crisis that would become the inciting event and central theme of this collection. Combining elements of memoir, elegy, lyrical essay and personal correspondence with appreciations of literary works ranging from haiku to comic books, Richard Harrison has written a book of great intellectual depth that is as generous as it is enchanting."--Provided by publisher.

"The great Alberta flood of 2013 slides through Richard Harrison's latest collection, its rising waters pulling his books of poetry off their shelves, washing the ink from letters kept in boxes in the basement and threatening to carry off his father's ashes. On these waters float Harrison's mourning for his father, who suffered a form of dementia later in life but never forgot the poems he'd memorized as a young man. Alongside these, the waters also carry Harrison's love of comic books, his struggles with haiku and his willingness to stay in the game, to "try again." Combining elements of memoir, elegy, lyrical essay and personal correspondence, On Not Losing My Father's Ashes in the Flood is a generous and enchanting book, one that leaves you, like the poet, thinking about the way "characters in a novel can escape anything / except their story."--Back cover.

"Richard Harrison was born in Toronto and moved to Calgary in 1995 to spend a year as the University of Calgary Distinguished Writer. He has lived in Calgary since then. He holds degrees from Trent University (in biology and philosophy) and Concordia University (in creative writing). He has had teaching positions at Trent University, the University of Calgary, and now Mount Royal University."--From wikipedia.org website.

Winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry (English), 2017.

Canadian poetry.

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