Alice Major Launches Memory’s Daughter

We hosted Alice’s launch at Greenwoods this year. Alice did a remarkable reading. The poems in Memory’s Daughter are so intimate, and yet she was able to perform them for us with both dignity and aplomb.

There was a wonderful turnout. It was April Fool’s Day and the start of Poetry Month. We had some playful eats, including spring rolls to celebrate the start of spring. Alice brought some amazing treats from the Duchess Bake Shop here in town. The macaroons are to die for.

Here is my introduction of Alice at the launch.

The U of A Press has been fortunate enough to publish the three most recent of Alice’s eight collections of poetry: The Occupied World, The Office Tower Tales, and, of course, Memory’s Daughter.

Alice has won many awards and accolades, including the very special Pat Lowther Award for poetry and, most recently, Lifetime Achievement by an Artist. The latter was presented to Alice by the City of Edmonton and the Professional Arts Coalition of Edmonton, just a few days ago.

Alice was also Edmonton’s first poet laureate, from 2005 to 2007, where she made a tremendous difference, not least in inaugurating Edmonton’s now-annual poetry festival. Her appearance as artistic director, at one of the media launches for the festival, wearing a red feather boa and a tam, was indicative of her panache, media savvy, and sense of fun.

My first introduction to Alice’s work was through the Threshold collection, an anthology of Alberta writing published by the U of A Press in 1999. I loved her voice, her polish, her intelligence, her honesty, and her eloquence. Obviously, so do my colleagues.

Tonight, we are proud to launch Memory’s Daughter: Alice’s homage to her parents, here at Greenwoods, one of Edmonton’s finest bookstores.

With no further ado, here is Alice.