Calgary poet Stuart Ian McKay is our poet-in-residence during the Calgary Stampede. An antidote to the cowboy hoopla that besieges the city at this time of year, poetry in The Project Room offers some respite for sensitive spirits. Come visit Stuart and write a poem on the wall, or read some of his work-in-progress.
STUART IAN MCKAY lives and writes in Calgary, where he was born. His first published poem was in 1993, while studying English literature at the University of Calgary. Since then, Stuart's work has been published in many Canadian journals, such as Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature and Orange. As Junior Poetry Editor of Dandelion, he helped produce its 25th Anniversary Edition. Issues of culture, place, identity and history are central to Stuart's work. The long poem is increasingly his favoured medium of poetic expression, and he enjoys the freedom it allows for experimentation in form, structure and language. Stuart is also exploring how poetry can draw other artistic disciplines into a unified voice. Stuart joined the Writers Guild of Alberta in 1999. During 2002 to 2003 he represented the Guild on the Steering Committee of the Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Program at the University of Calgary. From 2000 to 2001, he was President of the Calgary Society of Poets, Bards and Storytellers, a non-profit organization that produces poetry readings in and around Calgary. Typically, Stuart reads in, organizes or is host for 10 events a year. Many League members have participated in these events, most notably "Poetry on the Peak" at the Banff Centre in March 2002. Stuart was recently Writer in Resident at Rundle College in Calgary, teaching high school students the art and craft of writing poetry. He is pleased to be a member of the League of Canadian Poets. [bio from poets.ca]
Jul 31, 2009 at 12:00PM 
