The Geography of Home: Poems for a Lost Time

In his new book, The Geography of Home: Poems for a Lost Time, Edward MacDonald traces the rural Prince Edward Island that he grew up in from the late 1950s through the early 1970s, a landscape on the cusp of far-reaching change. Published by Island Studies Press, the book will launch on September 7 at 2 pm in the Faculty Lounge, Main Building Room 201, University of Prince Edward Island. The event is free, and all are welcome.

In the introduction to the book MacDonald writes that “home is a place in the heart. It is part actual and part invented, part remembered and part reconstructed, part learned and part inherited.” He goes on to say the depiction of an era offered here is a mixed-media portrait, combining prose and poetry, history and memory. Each poem takes as its touchstone a place, person, or practice and is paired with a short reflection that unpacks facets of the culture being explored. Archival photos woven throughout add another layer to this portrait.

The book was published with the support of a SSHRC Exchange Publication Award from the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Research at UPEI. 

Dr. Edward MacDonald is a professor emeritus of history from UPEI. He is the author of If You’re Strong-hearted: Prince Edward Island in the Twentieth Century and co-author of The Summer Trade: A History of Tourism on Prince Edward Island and has written, compiled, or co-edited nine other books. In 2023-24 he was appointed to the Order of Canada and then the Order of PEI for his work as an Island historian and teacher.