29 March 2004
Robert Bringhurst Nominated
for Dorothy Livesay Prize

Gaspereau Press is pleased to announce the nomination of Robert Bringhurst and his book Ursa Major for the 2004 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. The prize is sponsored by the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation and is one of eight BC Book Prizes awarded annually to celebrate the achievements of BC’s writers and publishers. The winning author for each prize will be announced at a gala dinner on May 1, 2004 at Government House in Victoria, BC. For more information on the prize, please visit www.bcbookprizes.ca

Robert Bringhurst defines Ursa Major as "a poem that marries Cree and Greek traditions in a form that is a cross between a five-act play and a string quartet." Using Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Leonard Bloomfield’s Sacred Stories of the Sweet Grass Cree and the night sky as his primary sources, Bringhurst sounds out cultural variations on the myth of the great bear constellation in four languages -- English, Latin, Greek and Cree. In poetry Bringhurst has captured the intricacies of cultural overlap perhaps more closely than is possible in prose. His unique translations and original verse carry the speech patterns and sense of humour that characterise each of the cultures represented.

Robert Bringhurst is an internationally recognized poet, linguist and typographer. His collections of poetry include The Calling: Selected Poems 1970-1995 and Pieces of Map, Pieces of Music (1987). He is well-known for his translations of the works of Haida storytellers, notably Ghandl’s Nine Visits to the Mythworld, which was nominated for the inaugural Griffin Poetry Prize in 2001. His manual The Elements of Typographic Style has become one of the most influential texts on typographic design. Bringhurst was born in Los Angeles and has lived on the west coast of Canada and the United States, as well as in the Middle East, Europe and Latin America. He currently lives on Quadra Island, BC.

For more information contact Beth Crosby
47 Church Avenue, Kentville, NS, B4N 2M7
902-678-6002, info@gaspereau.com