Andre Gerard discusses the new collection he’s edited, Fathers: A Literary Anthology (Patremoir, 2011), fatherhood, with Joseph Planta.

Fathers: A Literary Anthology edited by Andre Gerard. (Patremoir, 2011) Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Fathers

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver at TheCommentary.ca.

I’m a big fan of the Vancouver Sun columnist Douglas Todd. He’s a thoughtful and elegant writer. He recently wrote about a new book, Fathers: A Literary Anthology. Doug described the book as ‘powerful,’ ‘evocative,’ and also said that he expects the book ‘will end up helping many people better comprehend their relationships with their own dads,’ whatever experiences they might have with them. I just got the book a day or so ago, and with Fathers Day coming up in a couple of weeks, this book is a wonderful way to think about our dads, good, bad or indifferent. Well not so much on the indifferent, I suppose. Andre Gerard joins me now. He edited this collection of essays, poems, as well there’s a cartoon story in here. The authors represented include Virginia Woolf, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Mordecai Richler, E.B. White, Miriam Toews, Winston Churchill, Leonard Cohen, Sylvia Plath, Dylan Thomas, and many more. It’s a great showcase of writing, as well as a manual of sorts to understand fathers, fatherhood, life itself. There’s much wisdom here. Andre Gerard has had many jobs, including commercial fisherman, green chain hand, postal employee, and tutor. This collection was put together by Mr. Gerard; he financed it and published it. Patremoir is the publisher, which you can find out more about at www.patremoirpress.com. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Andre Gerard; Good morning, Mr. Gerard.

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