When you hear them say, Albertos the Great has died,
Believe only half their tall tale, for they have lied:
Great was my sin, and greater yet the work to mend
My smallness. Yet that labour, fault by fault, my friend
Some years ago with pains and anguish undertook
And carved at last my name with crimson in his book,
Which I, from time to time, read with thanksgiving
Since the pages do not hold the dead, but living.
Todd Anderson (Stuff of the Rind, Sand and Sail, The Reluctant Prophet) writes the newsletter Mirth to share a behind-the-scenes look at his writing process as well as to offer readers the first fruits of his poetry and reflections. He grew up in the forests of small-town Ontario, contending against nature in all its beauty and harshness. His training as a literary scholar of Latin and English literature inflects his love of poignant turns of phrase, but it is the influence of his family and their myriad adventures together that infuses his story-telling and poetry with its substance and power. Todd lives and writes in Ottawa with his wife and six children. If you are interested in supporting Todd’s work, please follow the links below to donate or buy his books.
Todd Edward Anderson 