I have been waiting for this book: The Imagined City: A Literary History of Winnipeg, edited by David Arnason and Mhari Mackintosh. There was an announcement in today’s Winnipeg Free Press that Arnason will be at the Millennium Library Tuesday evening for the release of the book.
The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Carol Shields Auditorium on the second floor.
A lot of crazy stuff happened in Winnipeg.
Arnason was my thesis advisor at the University of Manitoba. He came out drinking with the grad students and told fantastic stories. I like retelling the stories but I often get the details confused. For example, I never met Al Purdy, but Arnason did. David Arnason. I like telling this story as my own. But it’s not.
Arnason told me Purdy arrived at the University of Manitoba as a visiting professor sometime in the 70s. Purdy left everything in B.C., including his wife. He brought only a few possessions and furnished the apartment with a mattress and some pots and pans that were scrounged up by grad students.
Purdy lived just off campus in Summerland Apartments. He liked socializing with profs and students. They hung around, drinking, and sat on the mattress or the floor. Purdy stocked the cupboard with bean cans and bottles of rye.
Arnason told me Purdy rinsed out the bean cans and used them as glasses. The saving grace was Purdy passed them around half full of rye.
Arnason told these stories as a distraction. He sometimes offered stories in lieu of critical feedback on my thesis. My essays and revisions came back with a check mark or, well-written pieces, a ìgood.î
Arnason says Purdy once called him in the middle of the night. Purdy didnít care about etiquette or the time of day. He commanded that Arnason come over and read the poem he just finished. Arnason had a wife. He lived outside Winnipeg city limits, in St. Norbert. Purdy presented a problem.
Arnason arrived at Purdyís. I imagine he looked tentative, peered at Purdy from the doorway. Purdy offered Arnason a bean can and then waited in anticipation as Arnason read the manuscript. When Arnason finished reading, he handed it back to Purdy. ìItís good.î
Arnason appreciates the economy of words.
ìGood,î was Purdyís indignant reply. ìItís great! Read it again.î