“Elegy for a Slain Archbishop”, Blood of Angels, Thistledown, forthcoming, 2004.
“April in Baghdad”, “Perfect Sense”, previously unpublished.
Born in Vancouver, raised in Burnaby, Alan Safarik spent much of his life surrounded by his family’s fishing businesses. He developed a contemplative preoccupation and wrote poetry to escape both the chaos of the real world and dominant daily-habit repetitious cycles. The dwelling of self contained a private room that soon became a sanctuary for his meditative pursuit of writing poetry. Author of nine books of poetry, Alan is published throughout Canada and elsewhere. He has made many contributions about books, literature, theatre, art, aboriginal affairs, and personal memoirs to most Canadian magazines and newspapers.
Titles: Advertisements For Paradise, Oolichan Books, 1986; On The Way to Ethiopia, Polestar Press, 1991; All Night Highway, Black Moss, 1997; How I Know The Sky Is A River, Hagios, 1999; and Bird Writer's Handbook, Exile Editions, 2002; forthcoming Blood of Angels, Thistledown Press, 2004. Anthologies: Editor, Vancouver Poetry, 1986. Awards: Writer-in-Residence in Humboldt, SK 1999–2000, Estevan, SK 2001–2002; nominated for Saskatchewan Book Award (All Night Highway, How I Know the Sky Is A River).