Al Purdy

Poet

• Born: December 30, 1918
• Birthplace: Wooler, Ontario, Canada
• Died: April 21, 2000
• Place of death: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Biography

Alfred Wellington Purdy was born on December 30, 1918, in Wooler, Ontario, Canada, to Alfred and Eleanor Louisa (Ross) Purdy. His father, a farmer and apple orchard owner, died of cancer when Purdy was two years old. After his father’s death, Purdy and his mother moved to Trenton, Ontario, where Purdy attended Dufferin Public School, Albert College, and the Trenton Collegiate Institute. He dropped out of school after the tenth grade and traveled across Canada, hopping on trains and taking odd jobs.

In 1940, Purdy joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. The next year, Purdy married Eurithe Parkhurst, and they later had one son, Alfred Alexander. After World War II, the Purdys returned to Ontario and built their home in Ameliasburg, where Purdy’s ancestors had migrated. Eurithe worked to support Purdy while he devoted himself to his poetry. In 1960, the Canadian government provided financial assistance for writers, allowing Purdy to write without worrying about money. In the 1970’s, Purdy taught at several Canadian universities in addition to writing. He became a visiting professor at Simon Fraser University and at the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1970. He served as the poet-in- residence at Loyola College in 1973, the University of Manitoba from 1975 to 1976, and the University of Western Ontario from 1977 to 1978.

Throughout his career, Purdy published more than forty volumes of poetry and prose and edited numerous anthologies. He received no academic training in poetry writing and was skeptical of schools and subscribed techniques. However, Purdy acknowledged that writing programs could be useful if the poet remained true to his or her own voice.

Although Purdy’s many influences are recognizable in his earlier works, most critics agree that Purdy found his voice and created his own poetic style with The Cariboo Horses (1965). The collection recounts his expansive and extensive travels and reads as if it were a journal. The poems are free of traditional poetic conventions and possess unique rhythms and grammatical forms. Purdy’s travels are frequent themes in his poetry, and his connection to his environment and appreciation of nature also comes through in his verse.

Canadian history, culture, and geography frequently appear throughout Purdy’s poems. His beloved home in Ameliasburg and the neighboring Robin Lake provide endless inspiration which are expressed in his works with humor and sensitivity. The Collected Poems of Al Purdy (1986) serves as an autobiography, tracing his life through the evolution of his poetic style and subject matter. In the collection, Purdy acknowledges that a poem has a soul and will live on after its poet dies.

Purdy received the President’s Medal, University of Western Ontario, in 1964; Canada Council fellowships in 1965, 1968-1969, and 1971; the Governor General’s Literary Award in 1966 and 1986; the Centennial Medal, Canadian Federal Government, 1967; the Senior Literary Award, Canada Council, 1973; and the A. J. M. Smith Award, 1974. He was elected to the Academy of Canadian Writers in 1977, won the Jubilee Medal in 1978, and received the Order of Canada in 1987. Purdy died of lung cancer on April 21, 2000, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. His many contributions to Canadian literature include his commitment to his country and its history, as well as his constant experimentation and evolving poetic techniques.