Ontario poet Richard Outram, depressed after the death of his wife, committed suicide last week, writes George Murray on his Bookninja blog. The 74-year-old Outram, a widely admired “poet’s poet,” was also a friend and mentor to the younger Murray. “He was a generous mentor and a poet of the highest order,” writes Murray, who has posted a tribute poem on the Bookninja site. “His work is obscure and difficult, yet lauded by the greatest critical voices in the country as some of the only work that will ever make it out of the twin wells of Canada and history.” Outram published many collections over his lifetime, including, most recently, Dove Legend (The Porcupine’s Quill, 2001).

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Click here for the Bookninja post and link to discussion thread