"IN BRITISH COLUMBIA:"; SAYS TOM WAYMAN, "poetry is regarded as a mild form of social evil, like those people who still spit on the sidewalk.";It is probably impossible to stamp out the dirty practice entirely, but society makes it clear it has no sympathy for such an antiquated and irritating vice." Wayman's introductory remarks on poetry in general are contained in a feature essay for Event, the literary review published by Douglas College and edited by Dale Zieroth. Largely concerned with the work and influence of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Wayman's essay was first presented to the Humanities Institute of the college. "Poetry here is like a brain-dead pygmy, kept clinically alive in the academy by an artificial life-support system which, while it allows the patient to hover between life and death, also contributes to the withering away of the heart and muscles." To keep the patient alive, Wayman and Calvin Wharton have edited East of Main: The Poetries of East Vancouver (Pulp $10.95), an anthology of more than 30 writers with varying styles, due in May. Wayman is also publishing a new collection of his own poetry, In a Small House on the Outskirts of Heaven (Harbour $8.95).

[Spring / BCBW 1989]