Member Review
Canadian writers take so much for granted. Canada Council programs. Festivals and readings. Cheques arriving from the Public Lending Right Commission and Access Copyright. The Writers’ Trust of Canada Awards. Apparently, some of us believe that these things sprang unbidden from a naturally generous culture, and will always be with us. But they exist thanks mainly to the sustained creative efforts and constant vigilance of The Writers’ Union of Canada. We owe. We owe those who have gone before us, and we owe those who will come after.
Member Profile
Lesley Choyce
Lesley Choyce was born in New Jersey in 1951 and moved to Canada in 1978 and became a citizen. He teaches part-time at Dalhousie University, runs Pottersfield Press, and has written 40 adult and young-adult books. His YA novels concern things like skateboarding, surfing, racism, environmental issues, organ transplants, and rock bands. Lesley surfs year round in the North Atlantic and is considered the father of transcendental wood-splitting. He has worked as a rehab counsellor, a freight hauler, a corn farmer, a janitor, a journalist, a lead guitarist, a newspaper boy and a well digger. He lives in a 200-year-old farm house at Lawrencetown Beach overlooking the ocean. He also hosts a nationally syndicated TV talk show in Halifax. His recent novel, The Republic of Nothing, is currently being developed as a feature-length movie. Along with the Surf Poets, he has released a poetry/music album titled, Long Lost Planet.
