Fred Cogswell

(It is interesting and sad that, outside publishing, with the likes of Louise Dennys, Ellen Seligman, and Sandra Martin, one cannot compile a comparable list of Canadian women of letters.) So, simply as acknowledgement of his prominence as editor, publisher, translator and all-round poetry activist, this tribute volume, timed for his 85th birthday, was well-merited, even overdue. CogswelTs legacy, then, is a mixed one: as a teacher and a friend to poets, as a publisher, editor, and translator, he has exerted enormous influence; but while no one will want to argue with his basic assumptions about the natural decency of human beings and the "goodness and beauty of nature," whether these translate easily into lasting and memorable poetry is another matter.