“Like a song of mourning, the work is not only sorrowful and commemorative – it attempts to reconcile us to his loss, to all loss, as part of the “sway of things beyond fighting.””

— The Globe and Mail

“Seductive, supple and haunting . . . Sweetland is a wistful eulogy for a dying way of life.”

— The Toronto Star

On November 7th we welcome Michael Crummey, acclaimed Newfoundland poet and author of "Sweetland".

Michael's depiction of harsh lives in Newfoundland has been described as "illumined by compassion and rich language". his poetry described as "generous, genuine, rich and warm with some form of grace always present to receive whatever hardships his characters endure.

For twelve generations, when the fish were plentiful and when they all-but disappeared, the inhabitants of this remote island in Newfoundland have lived and died together. Now, in the second decade of the 21st century, they are facing resettlement, and each has been offered a generous compensation package to leave. But the money is offered with a proviso: everyone has to go; the government won't be responsible for one crazy coot who chooses to stay alone on an island.

That coot is Moses Sweetland. Motivated in part by a sense of history and belonging, haunted by memories of the short and lonely time he spent away from his home as a younger man, and concerned that his somewhat eccentric great-nephew will wilt on the mainland, Moses refuses to leave. But in the face of determined, sometimes violent, opposition from his family and his friends, Sweetland is eventually swayed to sign on to the government's plan. Then a tragic accident prompts him to fake his own death and stay on the deserted island. As he manages a desperately diminishing food supply, and battles against the ravages of weather, Sweetland finds himself in the company of the vibrant ghosts of the former islanders, whose porch lights still seem to turn on at night.