First of 4 cultural events from Sierra Quadra: 'The Ridge.'

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Sierra Quadra is bringing Robert Bringhurst’s poem The Ridge to  the Quadra Community Centre, at 7:30 on Saturday October 21st.

In an interview with Cortes Currents, Ray Grigg said he believes thisis the 80 minute long poem’s world premiere.  

It is also the first of four performances Sierra Quadra is putting on this year. They also have two films lined up. On Dec 16 they will be showing ‘Once You Know’ and on Feb 3 ‘Keepers of the Land.’ A fourth event is being planned.

In regards to Bringhurts poem, Grigg explained, “There is a ridge on Quadra Island called the Heriot Ridge and Robert Bringhurst lives just below it. He hikes it often. It's a rocky outcropping that separates the west from the east part of the island. It's rich in history, botany, zoology and all sorts of things. Robert has written this long poem about it involving the geography, the history, the First Nations, the arrival of people. it's a symbol of what's happening on the island specifically and on the planet generally,” explained Grigg.

“The ridge has fortunately stayed fairly pristine, but it's a symbol of a larger concern. It's a reminder that our time on this planet as humanity is pretty brief.  We. I've only been here as a species for 350,000 years approximately, maybe actually less, about 250,000. Civilization is barely 5,000 years old. The ridge has been here a  lot longer, and the trees have been here a lot longer. This is some of the feeling that I think that Robert is trying to give to us in this poem. We are an ephemeral species and our influence is ephemeral. We may just have to back away from  the immediate traumas we're experiencing and place ourselves in the larger historical natural context to understand what is happening and how we deal with the climate crisis.”

The poetry Foundation describes Bringhurst as one of Canada’s most revered poets, who draws his inspiration from Native American myths and storytelling, the Bible and ancient Greek poets.

According to the Sierra Quadra press release, ‘Bringhurst is a winner of the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence, and a former Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. Trained initially in the sciences at MIT, he has made his career in the humanities. Widely celebrated for his work not only in poetry, but also in typography and Native American linguistics, he is an Officer of the Order of Canada and the author of many books.’