E.J. Pratt


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The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry


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Gathering the strongest poetry published by Newfoundlanders since the death of E.J. Pratt in 1964, The Breakwater Book of Contemporary Newfoundland Poetry features selections from twelve of the province's most impressive poets, including Al Pittman, Tom Dawe, Mary Dalton, John Steffler, Patrick Warner, and Ken Babstock. This groundbreaking anthology, with over forty years of poetry on display, celebrates the rousing and the rebirth of contemporary Newfoundland verse. - 20130114




The Quest for a 'national' Nationalism: E.J. Pratt's Epic Ambition, 'race' Consciousness, and the Contradictions of Canadian Identity


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In his 2018 Pratt Lecture, The Quest for a 'National' Nationalism, renowned author and critic George Elliott Clarke investigates E.J. Pratt's poetic attempt to become the epic poet of Canada. And while Pratt's epic poems, such as Brebeuf and His Brethren and Towards the Last Spike, stand as lofty poetic achievements, the poet is never able to escape his own identity and speak convincingly for all Canadians. Unable to speak for Francophones, Indigenous peoples, and People of Colour, Pratt becomes the epic poet of the establishment, but never truly of the people. The PRATT LECTURES were established in 1968 to commemorate the legacy of E.J. Pratt. Over the years, the series has hosted a litany of world-renowned authors and scholars, including Northrop Frye, Seamus Heaney, Helen Vendler, and Dionne Brand.







Towards the Last Spike


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Towards the Last Spike was written in 1952 by Canadian poet E. J. Pratt. It is a long narrative poem in blank verse about the construction of the first transcontinental railroad line in Canada, that of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), from 1871 through 1885. Excerpt: "It was the same world then as now—the same, Except for little differences of speed And power, and means to treat myopia To show an axe-blade infinitely sharp Splitting things infinitely small, or else Provide the telescopic sight to roam Through curved dominions never found in fables. The same, but for new particles of speech..."




Newfoundland Verse


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E.J. Pratt was the premier Canadian poet of the first half of the 20th century. He was an author of 13 volumes of poetry and one of Canada's most prominent literary figures by the 1940s. Newfoundland Verse, published in 1923, was one of his first poetic collections.




The Bush Garden


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Originally published in 1971,The Bush Garden features Northrop Frye’s timeless essays on Canadian literature and painting, and an introduction by bestselling author Lisa Moore. In this cogent collection of essays written between 1943 and 1969, formidable literary critic and theorist Northrop Frye explores the Canadian imagination through the lens of the country’s artistic output: prose, poetry, and paintings. Frye offers insightful commentary on the works that shaped a “Canadian sensibility,” and includes a comprehensive survey of the landscape of Canadian poetry throughout the 1950s, including astute criticism of the work of E. J. Pratt, Robert Service, Irving Layton, and many others. Written with clarity and precision,The Bush Garden is a significant cache of literary criticism that traces a pivotal moment in the country’s cultural history and the evolution of Frye’s thinking at various stages of his career. These essays are evidence of Frye’s brilliance, and cemented his reputation as Canada’s — and the world’s — foremost literary critic.




Complete Poems


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The volume offers a full sampling of Pratt's poems chosen both for their representativeness and for their intrinsic value.




The Shark


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