Fred Cogswell

St. Thomas University has nurtured exemplary people for a century — from its first alighting in Newcastle to its current perch on a Fredericton hilltop. Here, in celebration of St. Thomas's 100th anniversary, is the first-ever collection of fiction, poetry, and prose by the university's most celebrated writers, including David Adams Richards, Sheldon Currie, Leo Ferrari, Sheree Fitch, and Kathy Mac. Philip Lee's thrumming account of a public auction kicks off the collection. Next up: Sheree Fitch's poem, "Cop," which wends through undercover prostitution and a child's abduction. Hard on its heels: Sheldon Currie's pitch-perfect story from a Nova Scotia coal-mining town. Once you begin, you're sure to read until the entire, delectable volume is consumed.

The Stunted Strong is a new edition of the first book published by Fiddlehead Poetry Books, the company that became Goose Lane Editions. Fred Cogswell, its author, was also the company's founder. The Stunted Strong is a sixteen-sonnet chapbook. The first and last poems create a context for the fourteen inner sonnets, each of which is a vivid sketch of an inhabitant of a rural community in the St. John River valley. The sequence portrays country people confined by frustration, obsession, and small victories, and it expresses in their characters the illimitable dreams and thwarting limitations of the human condition. The publication of the second edition of The Stunted Strong marks Goose Lane's 50th anniversary and commemorates Fred Cogswell's lifelong devotion to poetry. The text is introduced by Robert Gibbs, Cogswell's friend, colleague, and fellow poet. Designed and printed by Gaspereau Press, the new edition of The Stunted Strong is a work of art in its own right.