Vintage 2000

Edward L. Edmonds is a professor of education at the University of
Prince Edward Island and an honorary chief of the Mi’kmaq of Prince
Edward Island.

This anthology comprises the three winning poems (Russell Thornton’s
“The Beginnings of Stars,” Sue MacLeod’s “Especially for a
Woman, Reading,” Tammy Armstrong’s “A Proper Burial for
Songbirds”) as well as those receiving honorable mentions in the
League of Canadian Poet’s National Poetry Contest for 2000 along with
the winning poems in the Canadian Youth Poetry Competition for 2000. The
judges are disarmingly modest: “We know another jury might have made
other selections.” Be that as it may, the judges here have done a fine
job. The poems they have chosen reflect Wordsworth’s definition of
poetry as “the overflow of powerful feelings recollected in
tranquillity.” Pathos and intimate personal experience inform such
poems as “The Brief Occasion of Death,” “Your Keys,” “The
First Time,” and “To a Daughter.” The editors have appended a
short thumbnail sketch of each contributor. Vintage 2000 is recommended
for school and public libraries across Canada.