The Al Purdy A-frame Residency

Participants in the Ben Ladouceur workshops really enjoyed them, and asked for more. Ben has arranged for Rachel McCrum to lead a series of three workshops on the following dates: •    Tues. April 27—8 p.m.-9 p.m. EDT •    Sat. May 1—1 p.m.-2 p.m. EDT •    Tues May 4—4 p.m.-5 p.m. EDT Each workshop will be…

The Al Purdy A-frame Association is very pleased to announce a new opportunity – writing workshops. What a great way to focus on your creativity during these strange (and long) COVID times. The first round of workshops will be with Ben Ladouceur, an A-frame alumni member. Workshops will last one hour. Cost is $20 and…

The Al Purdy A-frame Association is very pleased to announce that in the first week of our fundraising campaign a total of $13,194 has been raised, and many thanks to those who have already donated. Our anxiety has decreased a bit! Plus, one of our long-time supporters, Glasswaters Foundation, has made a pledge of up…

The Al and Eurithe Purdy A-frame needs your help! As you may know, several brave souls stepped forward 12 years ago to save the legendary home of Canada’s great poet Al Purdy. This house served as an inspiration for Purdy’s own work, but also as a nexus during Canada’s literary coming-of-age. Regular guests included Margaret…

An Echo in the Mountains: Al Purdy After a Century has been published by McGill-Queen’s University Press. The work is edited by Nicholas Bradley, a 2016 writer-in-residence at the A-frame. And one of the many contributors to this new perspective is Jeff Weingarten, a 2018 alumnus. Following is McGill-Queen’s description: “From the 1960s until his…

Acclaimed poet and 2019 writer-in-residence Damian Rogers has published An Alphabet for Joanna: A Portrait of My Mother in 26 Fragments. Here is how Penguin Random House Canada describes it: “Throughout her childhood in Detroit, Damian Rogers was never given a satisfactory account of the circumstances that led to her own birth. The ‘truth’ behind…

The A-frame annual Open House, in partnership with the Ameliasburgh Fall Fair, had been scheduled for September 19 and 20 this year. Regrettably, due to the pandemic, both the Open House and the Fair were cancelled for 2020, but hope to be back in 2021. On the good news side, the Association was able to…

The Call for Applications for a residency at the A-frame has been suspended for 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, the A-frame association would be entertaining candidates for 2021 at this time. However, the residency program scheduled for this summer was cancelled. Writers who would have attended will be rescheduled in the 2021 season.

In light of COVID-19 restrictions imposed by federal and provincial governments, and to eliminate risk for writers-in-residence, attending volunteers and the local community, the Al Purdy A-frame residency program has been suspended until further notice. Future developments will be announced on this site.

Another great day at the A-frame. Over two days, more than 100 visitors, equaling last year’s total. So good to see continued interest in the preservation of the house and, especially, its role as a retreat for writers. A cultural crossroads it always was, and it remains. Al would raise a glass. And Eurithe, who…