Don McKay has been called the Canadian poet laureate of ecological philosophy.
A poet, naturalist, distinguished scholar and editor, teacher and speaker, he will give the 2018 UPEI Don Mazer Arts and Science Lecture in room 246 of UPEI’s Don and Marion McDougall Hall, March 1 at 7 p.m. All are welcome.
McKay’s talk, “Dragon, or Tectonic Lithofacies Map of the Appalachian Orogen,” will be, he says in his own words, “an attempt to approach one of the most famous and important maps in geology from both sides of my brain, the scientific and aesthetic.”
The Appalachian orogenic belt is an ancient mountain range extending from Alabama to Newfoundland. McKay, who lives in St. John’s, will talk about the tectonic theory of mountain building and focus on Gros Morne in Newfoundland, with reference to New Brunswick and to P.E.I. with its “detritus from worn-down mountains.”
Newfoundland geologist Hank Williams will feature prominently in McKay’s talk. He advanced plate tectonics, as a unifying theory for continental drift and mountain belt evolution, inspired a new generation of geologists, and helped establish Memorial University as a leader in earth science research.
McKay will also give a poetry reading on March 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Carriage House at Beaconsfield Historic House in Charlottetown.
His reading is supported by the UPEI Department of English and Dean of Arts, with assistance from The Canada Council for the Arts.
