Rodgers, Gordon 1952-

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RODGERS, Gordon 1952-

PERSONAL:

Born 1952, in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. Education: Attended Memorial University of Newfoundland; University of British Columbia, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—Creative Publishing, P.O. Box 8660, 36 Austin Street, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 3T7, Canada.

CAREER:

Writer and practicing psychologist; formerly university lecturer and government research assistant.

WRITINGS:

Floating Houses (poems), Creative Publishers (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada), 1984.

The Phoenix (novella), Creative Publishers (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada), 1985.

Pyrate Latitudes (poems), Creative Publishers (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada), 1986.

A Settlement of Memory (novel), Killick Press (St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada), 1999.

Former poetry editor of Prism International. Contributor to literary journals and magazines; work included in Choice Poems from the Newfoundland Quarterly, edited by Everard H. King, Harry Cuff Publications, 1981.

SIDELIGHTS:

Although he may be best known as a poet, Gordon Rodgers has also written some notable works of prose inspired by the history of his native Canadian province of Newfoundland. In his first novella, The Phoenix, the crash of a Czechoslovakian passenger plane in Newfoundland during the 1960s—an accident that actually occurred and killed thirty-seven people—is told through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Michael, who lives in the province. As Michael traverses a bog where the plane crashed in Gander, Newfoundland, he "takes his first steps towards a mature understanding of life and death," Cathy Simpson explained in Books in Canada. Simpson also noted that Rodgers's background as a poet is apparent due to his "cunning interweaving of thematic images" in this book.

Rodgers's first full-length novel, A Settlement of Memory, was inspired by Newfoundland's union history. The protagonist of A Settlement of Memory, Tom Vincent, is a labor organizer modeled on historical figure William Coaker, the man who organized the Fisherman's Protective Union in Newfoundland in 1908. In Rodgers's novel, Vincent attempts to rent an office for the union on Water Street, the main street of St. John's, the major city of Newfoundland, in 1913. The businessmen who own the office spaces on Water Street refuse to rent to him, but Vincent is undeterred in his quest to break the control of the owners. A Settlement of Memory "is backed by extensive research," Diana Brebner commented in Books in Canada, which forms "the skeleton for a consistent and authentic narrative."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Books in Canada, June, 1986, Cathy Simpson, review of The Phoenix, p. 20; October, 1999, Diana Brebner, review of A Settlement of Memory, pp. 35-36.

Canadian Literature, autumn-winter, 2001, Colin Hill, review of A Settlement of Memory, pp. 236-238.

Newfoundland Quarterly, fall, 1988, review of The Phoenix and Pyrate Latitudes, p. 42.

Quill and Quire, August, 1999, review of A Settlement of Memory, p. 32.