Poet laureate leads literary tour of Greece

From May 15 to May 28, George Bowering, an SFU professor emeritus in
English and Canada's newly appointed parliamentary poet laureate,
will host "CanLit in Attica", a non-credit literary tour of Greece
offered through SFU International.

The informal tour, limited to 25 participants, will begin in Athens
and route through various ancient sites of literary significance such
as Nafplion, Olympia, Delfi, Kalambaka, and Thessaloniki.

Bowering fell in love with Greece as a young man making his first
trip to Europe in 1966. On that occasion, he travelled with one
friend in a VW Beetle. This spring, he hopes to return with a busload
of companions.

"This program should appeal to people who like to travel with their
minds and not just their bodies," says the spirited two-time
Governor-General's award winner and author of more than 60 books of
poetry and fiction.

"If you've ever had the experience of reading a poem or a story about
a place, and then actually going there, and then rereading the poem
or story, you know how it totally reconstructs your notions of that
place."

Bowering, a B.C. native now living in rural Ontario, says generations
of Canadian writers have sought "learning and inspiration" in the
Aegean. "Greece is a common landscape for Canadian writers," he says,
and his literary walkabout will cover ground described in the poetry
and fiction of important Canadian writers such as Leonard Cohen, Al
Purdy, Irving Layton, Audrey Thomas, and Robert Kroetsch.

[The cost is $5,450 per person and includes return airfare from
Vancouver, shared accommodation, breakfasts and in-country
transportation. Registration deadline is March 1, with payment due by
March 31.]