Foreword to Discovering Stephen Gill
 
Asoka Weerasinghe
 
 
When I was approached to write a foreword to the collection of essays on Stephen Gill’s literary writings, the first word that flashed past my mind was Eirenepoios, the ancient Greek word for “Peace Makers” or “Peace Poets”. During the last two decades Stephen has chosen the path of being a torch-bearer for humanity through poetry. His unique poetic prism has shown a powerful array of nuances that shed light for peaceful co-existence. He has shown the power of poetry with its ability to philosophize in his poems as in Songs of Harmony and in Shrine. His poems have been a vehicle for individual liberation and the discovery of the unknown vignettes in us of the human spirit.
 
I have known Stephen for almost 35 years. Although a diverse writer of many literary genres, I have known him mainly as a poet transplanted in Canada, who has brought his poetic voice of a South Asian geography and melded comfortably as an illustrious poet with the rest of mainstream Canadian poetic voices. His poetry has bold metaphors of places and the life within these places which shows that he has adapted comfortably the country in which he lives. Since all Canadians are immigrants excluding the First Nation peoples and the Inuit, Stephen who has lived in Canada for decades could be classed as a Canadian writer of Canadian literature.
 
I have watched the mesmeric impact he has had with his audience when I had the opportunity to share the stage with him at readings across Ontario, Canada, and as guest poets at the Austin International Poetry Festival in Texas, in the US.In many of his poetry he has succeeded well in the verbal and structural experimentation of the poetic form. Stephen’s poetic hallmark is his rhythmic uncompromising language finding the perfect tongue to make it easy for his readers to understand his celebrations and concerns around him which also happens to be ours. His poetry has been a vehicle for human-liberation.
 
Stephen being a prolific poet and a writer, I congratulate Dr. Nilanshu Kumar Agarwal, the Editor of essays and critiques of his work, as such a collection with the intention of discovering Stephen Gill through the power of his written word is timely to understand this excellent writer and especially through his poetry.
 
Asoka Weerasinghe, Co-founder of Gloucester Spoken Art,
Poetry & Storytelling Series in Ottawa, Canada.
Award-winning poet Asoka Weerasinghe has several collections of poems
to his credit.