I was born in Montreal and lived there until I escaped the weather and the separatists to live in Australia when I was 23. This is probably as good as it gets- in Canadian poetry. The late great Al Purdy's poems of the remote north are mandatory reading before you die.
Buy it here- Harbour Publishing: http://www.harbourpublishing.com/title/BeyondRemembering
"If you want to read some decent strong human stuff without fakery I'd say Al Purdy the Canadian. . . one of the few very good poets since 1900." Charles Bukowski
Bukowski corresponded extensively with Purdy and Paget Press published a collection of some of their letters:
"THE BUKOWSKI/PURDY LETTERS, A DECADE OF DIALOGUE, 1964-1974," Charles Bukowski & Al Purdy, Edited by Seamus Cooney, The Paget Press, 117 pages, $10.00 paper (0-920348-25-4).
You will find Robert Sward’s 1997 fine review of the book here:
