Join us as we explore the influential books and writers who defined genres and captivated readers for decades. Each session of The Re-Read features a contemporary writer discussing a favourite book or author, to offer their insight as an author and share their joy as a reader. In this session, Toronto’s 6th Poet Laureate, and “Master of Metaphor”, A.F. Moritz will present a newly commissioned poem responding to T.S. Eliot’s famed poem The Waste Land.

Originally published in 1922 following the devastation of WWI and the Spanish Flu, Eliot’s The Waste Land reflected the personal turmoil and fear of cultural collapse of the time. With clear present-day parallels such as growing inequality, the ongoing aftermath of a pandemic and the ever-present threat of climate change, Moritz will present his poem and delve into the role The Waste Land has played in his writing.

This project is part of a collaboration between TIFA, Bristol+Bath Creative R+D, and Here + There, an initiative designed to explore how being locally rooted allows us to understand ourselves as part of an interconnected global network.