A national poetry legend will be coming to the area to teach the craft.
bill bissett (yes, the Bs are deliberately lower case) will be in Wells to teach the unique brand of anti-conventional verse he helped pioneer starting in the 1960s when he was a new poetry sensation out of Halifax and Vancouver where he divided his university years.
"The author of more than 60 books of poetry, he is also a painter and musician," said Julie Fowler, the executive director of Island Mountain Arts, the organization hosting his appearance. "Known for his unconventional writing style and spirited performances, bissett dispenses with standard written English, connecting with language on an elemental level that some reviewers have considered shaman-like."
Now based out of Vancouver and Toronto, bissett was once praised by Jack Kerouac in the Paris Review. The pop-electronica group Chemical Brothers' 2007 hit record We Are The Night was titled from a bissett poetic reference and included sound samples of bissett reciting his work. He has an honorary doctorate from Thompson Rivers University. He was chastised in Parliament and became the poster boy for subjective arguments over taxpayer support of the arts. This debate touched off a national media debate in the late 1970s over the definitions of Canadian culture and Canadians' support for it.
Prince George writer and literary instructor Don Precosky of CNC details the bissett back-and-forth in his paper entitled "bill bissett: controversies and definitions". In it, bissett is quoted as saying "I think artists are really strong. Look at what we all put up with or endure or bypass or let go of to keep going with the art. It doesn't make us better, it just means we're determined. Most people do things because they have some level of dedication and love for what they're doing -- curiosity and excitement."
bissett will be in Wells for July 31 and August 1 to teach his "finding our voices n saying them" course and will also be performing as part of the ArtsWells Festival Of All Things Art.
