Al Purdy struggled initially as a poet, yet persevered and thrived along with his burgeoning Canadian culture. This collection of essays mixes literary appreciation with qualification, portraying Purdy's growth as an artist--which so paralleled that of his nation, along with his self-absorption and that of his country as they gazed at themselves in the mirror of the 20th century. The poet's candor and the sweeping canvas of his Canada are inspiring.

If you want to read some decent strong human stuff without fakery I'd say Al Purdy the Canadian. . . one of the few very good poets since 1900. -Charles Bukowski Purdy is one of the most substantial poets in English of the century. -Dennis Lee

100 poems inspired by the ghost of Al Purdy

A Study Guide for Al Purdy's "Wilderness Gothic," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

A Study Guide for Al Purdy's "Lament for the Dorsets," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

A Splinter in the Heart, Al Purdy's only novel, provides a vivid picture of Purdy's childhood home of Trenton, Ontario, in the final days of the First World War. On Thanksgiving Day in 1918, Trenton was devastated by a fire and explosion at a munitions factory owned by the British Chemical Company, the town's one big employer. All of the action in A Splinter in the Heart anticipates this cataclysm. As disaster looms, Purdy takes Patrick Cameron, his awkward and undistinguished teenage hero, through the usual elements of adolescence: he falls in love; he takes up long-distance running; his mother is courted by Trenton's firebrand preacher; his ancient grandfather, Marshall "Portugee" Cameron, dies.

From the 1960s until his death in 2000, Al Purdy was one of the most prominent writers in Canada, famous for his frank language and his boisterous personality. He travelled the country and wrote about its people and places from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. A central figure in the CanLit explosion of the sixties and seventies, Purdy has been called the best, the most, and the last Canadian poet. But Purdy's Canada no longer exists. A changing country and shifting attitudes toward Canadian literature demand new perspectives on Purdy's impact and accomplishments. An Echo in the Mountains reassesses Purdy's works, the shape of his career, and his literary legacy, grappling with the question of how to read Purdy today, a century after his birth and in a new era of Canadian literature. Contributors to the volume examine Purdy's critical reception, explore little-known documents and textual problems, and analyze his representations of Canadian history and Indigenous peoples and cultures. They show that much remains to be discovered and understood about the poet and his immense body of work. The first sustained examination of Al Purdy's works in over a decade, An Echo in the Mountains showcases the critical challenges and rewards of rereading an iconic and influential Canadian writer.