Al Pittman

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Al Pittman
BornAl Pittman
(1940-04-11)April 11, 1940
Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Poetry

Lydia Campbell Award for Creative Writing

Al Pittman (April 11, 1940 – August 26, 2001) was a Canadian writer and teacher from Newfoundland.[1][2]

Life and work

Born in

Fredericton, New Brunswick, where he befriended fellow poet Alden Nowlan. Pittman moved to St. John's in 1972, where he associated with many of the artists, writers, and musicians active in the city at the time, including Rufus Guinchard and Gerald Squires. In 1973 he co-founded Newfoundland's first publishing house, Breakwater Books, with Pat Byrne, Dick Buehler, Tom Dawe, and Clyde Rose.[3] Pittman continued to write throughout his life, producing many other volumes of poetry, plays, books for children, short stories, songs, magazine articles, and essays, as well as writings for radio, television and film.[3] He eventually returned to his childhood home of Corner Brook, where he co-founded the March Hare, an annual poetry and music festival.[2]

Pittman's poetry and plays often address the sense of loss associated with the rural resettlement policies initiated by Joey Smallwood's provincial government in the 1960s. His best-known play West Moon is set in a resettled outport, where the ghosts of the dead lament the abandonment of their home.[3] A production of West Moon produced by West Moon Inc. toured Ireland in 2001 following Al Pittman's 2000 visit where he met Poet Irish Paul Durcan in Dublin, read at the Canadian Embassy, stayed and also read at the Tyrone Guthrie Center, Annaghmakerring, County Monaghan. A strong sense of community and a writing style intended for reading aloud have helped to cement Pittman's reputation as one of Newfoundland and Labrador's most cherished contemporary writers.[1]

Pittman died on August 26, 2001, at the age of sixty-one, after a lengthy illness.

Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, Newfoundland.[3]

Bibliography

The cover of An Island In The Sky: Selected Poetry of Al Pittman.

Poetry

  • The Elusive Resurrection (1966)
  • Seaweed and Rosaries (1968)
  • Through One More Window (1974)
  • Once When I Was Drowning (1978)
  • Dancing in Limbo (1993)
  • Thirty-for-Sixty (1999)
  • An Island in the Sky: Selected Poetry of Al Pittman (2003)[4]
  • Al Pittman: Collected Poems (2015)

Plays

  • A Rope Against the Sun (first performed in 1970, published 1974)
  • West Moon (first performed in 1980, published 1995)

Short stories

  • The Boughwolfen and Other Stories (1984)[5]

Children's literature

  • Down by Jim Long's Stage: Rhymes for Children and Young Fish (1976)
  • One Wonderful Fine Day for a Sculpin Named Sam (1983)
  • On a Wing and a Wish: Salt Water Bird Rhymes (1992)[6]

Further reading

  • Williamson, Margie. Four Maritime Poets: a survey of the works of Alden Nowlan, Fred Cogswell, Raymond Fraser and Al Pittman, as they reflect the spirit and culture of the Maritime people . Thesis (M.A.), Dalhousie University, 1973 [microform].

References

  1. ^ a b "Al Pittman (1940-2001)". Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Web Site.
  2. ^ a b "Al Pittman". Atlantic Canadian Poets' Archive. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Nfld. poet, playwright Al Pittman dead at 61". Theglobeandmail.com. August 28, 2001. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
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External links