You

In You Gary Hyland has written a facinating exploration into poetic form with the spotlight set on the pronoun "you". As Hyland imaginatively reveals, there are six different "modes" for using "you" and each "usage" forms a section in the book. Captivating to read and driven by Hyland's remarkable craft for music and insight, this book delves deeply into the nuances of the intent and expectation for both poet and reader. Hyland from the prologue of the book: The poems… explore relationships and variations on relationships with diverse people in these modes. Because the relationship of the poet to reader fascinates me, there are poems, some of them saucy, where the you is you, the reader. Endlessly absorbing and exciting to read, You tackles hard questions about form and voice and leaves the reader grateful for the journey.

Gary Hyland

Gary Hyland is a Saskatchewan teacher, writer, activist, consultant and editor. In 1993, he was short-listed for the National Magazine Gold Medal Poetry Award, and he has won numerous prizes in the Saskatchewan Writers Guild annual competitions, including major poetry manuscript awards in 1991 and 1995 and the John V. Hicks Memorial Award in 2003.

He has published two chapbooks and five full-length books of poetry - Just off Main (Thistledown, 1982), Street of Dreams (Coteau Books, 1984), After Atlantis (Thistledown, 1991), White Crain Spreads Wings (Coteau Books, 1996), The Work of Snow(Thistledown, 2003), and Hands Reaching In Water (Hagios, 2007).

He has been a high school English teacher and a creative writing instructor for Palliser Campus (SIAST), the Saskatchewan Summer School of the Arts and the Prairie Winds Writers' Conference at Custer, South Dakota. He also worked as a sessional lecturer in English for the University of Regina.

He was the recipient of a Hilroy Fellowship for innovative teaching practices, the Marshall McLuhan Distinguished Teacher Award for quality teaching and contributions to the profession, the Joe Duffy Memorial Award for excellence in teaching English. He has received volunteer awards from SaskCulture, the Saskatchewan Writers Guild, and Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association; and the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal from the Province of Saskatchewan. He resides in his birthplace of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where he was named lifetime Poet Laureate (with Robert Currie) in 1991 and Citizen of the Year in 1998 and 2006. In 2007 he was named one of the 100 most influential graduates of the University of Saskatchewan in the last one hundred years.

For the last while he has had Amyotrophic Lateral Sceloris (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease). He continues with a reduced volunteer load, his writing and combating the disease.

Website » www.garyhyland.com