Quinte Arts Council article on Chris Faiers

Umbrella  (Quinte Arts Council's tabloid)

• Spring 2015  page 26

INTRODUCING OUR POETRY EDITOR

By Gary Mcleod

Zen River Gardens is poetry. Like the promenade

gardens of Japan, it is meant to be seen one landscape

at a time, like a scroll of painted landscapes unrolling.

Structured and unstructured poetry treat words in this

same manner, a scroll of written images unrolling. It

seemed a fitting place to speak with the Poetry Editor for

Umbrella, Chris Faiers.

Nestled near Marmora, at the very source of the Moira

River, even on a cold winter day, Zen River Gardens

is picturesque and serene. It is peaceful and thought-

evoking. Buddha, half buried in the snow, doesn’t seem

to mind. His place is here, overlooking the myriad of

symbols both natural and manufactured, listening to

the soothing sound of the shallow water beginning to

gather the power that will make it the mighty waterway

downstream.

In addition to writing haiku, lyrical and political poetry,

Chris founded the literary press, Unfinished Monument,

and was a founding member of The Canadian Poetry

Association and Haiku Canada. He is the first recipient of

the Milton Acorn People’s Poetry Award and founder of

the Purdy Country Literary Festivals (PurdyFests). Chris

bought the piece of land that is Zen River Gardens in

2005. Much of his poetry is created in the shaman shack

that sits perched on a knoll in the midst of the quiet here.

As Umbrella Poetry Editor, Chris likes to gather a

wide range of poetry styles and themes for publication.

You need not worry about your verse being spurned

by him. He feels that “anyone brave enough to put

pen to paper to express their inner thoughts for all to

read is deserving of an audience.” Having been around

the Canadian poetry scene with such greats as Milton

Acorn has given him the refreshing perspective of where

greatness comes from in any literary work. For this

reason, Chris welcomes work from seasoned poets and

newcomers, eager to mentor both if asked.

With our dogs and the photographer in tow, we

wandered Zen River Gardens, our feet breaking through

the layer of thin ice that had formed on the snow,

pausing along the way to discuss poetry and poets,

writers and writing, and of course, the beauty of our

surroundings. Irving Layton once said that Chris’ poems

“have verve, wit, range and rage.” You would think he

was describing the man himself.

a cold winter day

half buried Buddha smiling

talk of poetry

To submit a poem for publication in Umbrella, please

send it to Carol Bauer,

carol@quinteartscouncil.org



note: The article looks much better in Umbrella, esp. with the accompanying pic of a snow covered Buddha taken by Darren Cole. I was unable to cut & paste the pic or the original lay-out of the article.

The haiku is Gary's   ;  )


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On 2015-03-13, at 1:32 PM, Ed Baker wrote:

thanks for the link to this… a very slick production… well funded.
Does the print version look just the same ?

my piece looks good…. I like how it is presented… just the piece/ no comments or
analysising or critteak-ing. .  thanks for the ride. Nice exposure for you too.

Ed

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