Where pain meets poetry
December 9, 2005
Kristin Ostensen
Fraser Lounge filled with nearly seventy students and faculty who came to listen to the acclaimed Christian poet, John Terpstra. Terpstra spent just over an hour on the Trinity Western University campus, reading his poetry and speaking with students and faculty about its genesis and significance.
Terpstra, who hails from Hamilton, Ontario, has written one book of prose and seven books of poetry, one of which, Disarmament (2003), was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2004. A graduate of the University of Toronto, Terpstra has returned to university life as this year’s Writer-in-Residence at McMaster University’s Department of English and Cultural Studies.
The poetry reading was organized by Dr. Barbara Pell, who has known Terpstra for many years. Gaspereau Press, a small Nova Scotian press that publishes Terpstra’s work, contacted Pell and asked if the English Department would have him read at TWU a part of his book tour.
“I think it’s wonderful,” said Pell when asked to comment on the value of such a reading. “I’m so glad that we had so many people [attend].”
Terpstra’s calm, halting voice filled the silence of the room as he read from his most recent book, The Boys, which tells the story of his wife’s family and the lives of her three brothers who were born with muscular dystrophy. All three boys passed away about thirty years ago while they were in their late teens or early twenties within six months of each other.
“It’s taken a long time for me to write the story,” Terpstra confessed as he began reading. “It’s not a miserable, tragic thing that happened,” he added, “even though it is.”
The excerpts he read from his book gave a poignant picture of the lives and character of the three boys – Neil, Paul and Eric – showing that despite their illness, their lives were not wasted. Terpstra described their passion for life, even as they grew further physically disabled.
“They had more life than I did,” he said. “Death didn’t win, in my conclusion… even though they died.”
Terpstra said The Boys was originally influenced by the Confessions of St. Augustine, as he thought that his writing would take the form of
“addresses to God.” He concluded that in the end this book resembled much more the medieval Lives of the Saints.
“I think of [The Boys] as being the Lives of Three Saints,” he said.
After he finished reading, Terpstra took time to answer questions from the audience. When asked why he began writing poetry, he admitted that he would not have tried it “had it not been for an assignment in Grade 10.”
Overall, the poetry was received well by the audience, especially Terpstra’s many humourous touches which elicited chuckles throughout.
“Everybody seemed to be extremely interested,” commented Pell. “I’ve had a number of students and faculty say how very impressed they were.”
Terpstra’s three most recent works include The Boys (2005), Disarmament (2003), and Falling into Place (2002).
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