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Reading Don Gutteridge's collection of poetry, Home Ground, will instill a sense of wonder and presence with his well-hewn memories of Point Edward. Don's delight in crafting his poems, in making his images sing, spills over onto the page. The reader can't help but be affected on many levels. Home Ground reveals the bright tapestry that is the author's memories, his adventures as a child, his companions and family. If it is correct to say that a great poem aspires to include the mind, the body, the heart, the soul and the spirit in one surround, then one can affirm that this collection of poems, Home Ground, has indeed realized this truism. Don Gutteridge, a Canadian voice through and through, is a poet to be reckoned with.
Home Ground, is considered to be one of the best of Don Gutteridge's almost 60 books. Gutteridge has a divine gift; he crafts visions with an elegant ease, splashing colors on canvas of the mind's eye. Home Ground recreates the past so vividly it argues for the concept of time standing still.
Don Gutteridge is a master of his craft. He won the 1972 UWO President's Medal for the best periodical poem of that year. "Death At Quebec." His poetry collection Coppermine was short-listed for the 1973 Governor General's Literary Award. Now with this new collection of poems, Home Ground, he is destined to leave a permanent mark on the Canadian poetry scene. Don Gutteridge is arguably one of Canada's finest poets.
About the author
Don Gutteridge was born in Sarnia and raised in the nearby village of Point Edward. He taught High School English for seven years, later becoming a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Western University, where he is now Professor Emeritus. He has published seventy-six books: poetry, fiction and scholarly works in literary criticism and pedagogical theory and practice. He has published twenty-two novels, including the twelve-volume Marc Edwards mystery series and a YA fable, The Perilous Journey of Gavin the Great, and thirty-eight books of poetry, one of which, Coppermine, was short-listed for the 1973 Governor-General's Award. In 1970 he won the UWO President's Medal for the best periodical poem of that year, "Death at Quebec." Don lives quietly in London, Ontario.
