Michael Fraser, with Richard Brait

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Exile’s final 2023 event: Thursday, December 21st.

5:30 – 8:00 at FREETIMES CAFE – 320 College Street.

Please arrive between 5:30 and 6:30 to order Food and Drinks from the Menu.

Michael Fraser takes the stage at 7:15, to launch his new collection of poetry: With My Eyes Wide Open.

Richard Brait leads off at 6:45 with a selection of poems, including a taste from his prize-winning suite (Exile’s annual Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Award) that appeared in the 50th anniversary issues of EXILE Quarterly.

“Michael Fraser – his Eyes Wide Open – be breathtakingly personal, but also maybe at his personal best… Keep yo eyes on this prize!” —George Elliott Clarke, Canada’s Parliamentarian Poet Laureate emeritus

Note: the poster/invite incorrectly indicates an 8:30 end… it will be 8:00.

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The four 50th Anniversary issues:

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With My Eyes Wide Open navigates life’s catastrophes, failures, and coming through experiential slaughter revived and reborn to new possibilities.  The biographical themes of grief, family, and resiliency amid the backdrop of racism and near-poverty are explored with earnestness and no filter.  This is confessional poetry where the poet acknowledges his wanton decisions with deft poetic skill, astute creativity, and imaginative flair.  This is not a book of victimhood, but one of triumph!

Michael Fraser of Toronto was published in Best Canadian Poetry in English, 2013 and 2018. He has won numerous awards, including Freefall Magazine’s 2014 and 2015 poetry contests, the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize, the 2018 Gwendolyn MacEwen Poetry Competition, and the League of Canadian Poets’ 2022 Lesley Strutt Poetry Prize. With My Eyes Wide Open is his fourth poetry collection.

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Books Table: Cash or e-transfer only.

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