Thomas Leduc

"Poet is Greek for maker which is practically a synonym for worker, and so Thomas L. Leduc is a thorough poet, i.e., a maker from and for the working-class.  Leduc's poetry--his work--ain't strip-mined, but is rooted in earth, hearth, and heart.

 

In Slagflower, the poet retrieves true grit, the honest nugget

(no fool's gold), and diamonds that are truly squeezed out of

coal. Leduc is so skilled at heavy lifting, his touch is deft. You

almost don't notice the toil--the hard work of making--that's

produced this art, this sculpted masterpiece."

 

~ George Elliott Clarke, 7th Parliamentary Poet Laureate (2016 & 2017)

 

"Plain-spoken yet beautifully crafted, these poems resound with deep history and authentic feeling. Gripping -- I read them in one sitting."

-- Susan McMaster, poet and editor

 

"Tom Leduc’s work reflects Sudbury’s origins, a unique series of mining poems that speak openly “of sulphur and ash, of man and metal.” Slagfloweris a collection that delves into the poet’s memories of a mining family, of people who depend upon the earth’s resources and risk their lives to go to work every day. From the impact of a miner’s death on his co-workers, to a daughter’s love for stones and rocks, to a father’s distaste for a kitchen sink made mostly of nickel, Leduc fashions a definitive sense of place, creates characters who are people we’ve all known and loved, and uses a warm, narrative voice to draw readers in. This debut collection of poems captures the raw beauty of the landscape, but also the difficult truths of what it means to be from a mining town in Northern Ontario. His voice is uniquely powerful because it is rooted so firmly in a lived experience of mining that has yet to be aptly captured in contemporary Canadian poetry."

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~ Kim Fahner, poet, playwright and teacher