All Alone at the End of the World
- Publisher
- Ekstasis Editions
- Initial publish date
- Sep 2014
- Category
- Canadian
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9781771710633
- Publish Date
- Sep 2014
- List Price
- $23.95
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
In this hauntingly lyrical and always surprising collection of poetry, Lesley Choyce offers his unique observations of life in all its wonders. Geographically, the poems range from his home in Nova Scotia to Greece, England, Ireland, Italy and New Jersey. Along the way, the poet falls into a well, encounters a dead seal, eavesdrops on university students, drives to the English Channel, hangs up laundry, makes lasagna and has an epiphany while mailing a letter on a snowy day. He learns lessons inside a cancer ward, dreams of having a picnic with Hitler, fights the hostility of an empty page, encounters a world of contradictions and flees from the dark dreams of a North Carolina casino. There are poems of death here but also of healing and hope. In “Reinventing the Poet,” Choyce examines what is needed to revitalize the poet and the poem but also the necessary ingredients for breathing life and vitality back into every waking moment. Jim Morrison offers an important lesson about poetry, fame and madness. Choyce himself dances along the precipice of sanity with poems that consider purpose, growth, hope and, finally, the end of the world. All Alone at the End of the World is a wild ride across real continents and imaginary landscapes for anyone willing to turn off the news and tap into the imagination.
About the author
No one has a clearer view of Atlantic Canada's literary endeavours over the past twenty years than Lesley Choyce. He is the founder of the literary journal Pottersfield Portfolio, and the publisher of Pottersfield Press. He has edited several fiction anthologies and has been the in-house editor of many books from Pottersfield Press including Making Waves, a collection of stories by emerging authors from Atlantic Canada. He is the author of more than fifty books in genres ranging from poetry and essays to autobiography, history and fiction for adults, young adults, and children. Among his recent books are the novels The Republic of Nothing, World Enough, and Cold Clear Morning, and the story collection Dance the Rocks Ashore. Choyce is the writer, host, and co-producer of the popular literary show television program, Off the Page with Lesley Choyce, which is broadcast across the country on Vision TV. He also teaches in the English department of Dalhousie University in Halifax and is leader of the rock band The Surf Poets.
