The Al Purdy A-Frame Anthology

• Paul Vermeersch (Ed.)
• Harbour Publishing, 2009
• Paperback, 157 pages
• 9781550175028

In 1957, Al Purdy and wife Eurithe purchased land onRoblin Lake in Price Edward County. During the next few years they built, by hand, the A-Frame cottage celebrated in this anthology.

A strong case can be made to place Purdy as Canada's greatest poet, and the work which established that reputation was written in the A-Frame nearly two decades after he began publishing. The site has been written, and re-written, by Purdy, and the best of these poems are in this book.

Moreover, the cottage was a site of pilgrimmage for young poets and contemporaries alike from the time it was built until Al's death in 2000; Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, David McFadden, George Bowering and many, many others visited Al and Eurithe, and here they document their experiences.

The book is raising money to preserve the A-Frame, and to establish a trust to create a retreat for future generations of Canadian writers.