Teacher releases poetry book

When Stephen Rowe first began writing poems for his own personal interest, he might never have thought he was going eventually see them published in an 88-page book.

This month, Mr. Rowe is preparing to do just that with the launch of his first collection of poetry, Never More There.

Mr. Rowe, a geography and Newfoundland studies teacher at Gander Collegiate, first became interested in writing through his father in Heart's Content, who was an English teacher.

At Memorial University of Newfoundland, he studied English literature, and also developed a particular liking for poetry.

"In high school I'd only done some minor writing, like the stuff you'd have to do for English class. But when I was in university, I really started writing," he said.

While in school, a close friend of his was killed in a car accident. Unable to come to grips with his own feelings at first, Mr. Rowe eventually chose to detail them in the form of a poem.

In hindsight, he doubts the poem had much merit, but it proved to be the launching pad for poetry writing. Aside from reading classic poets such as William Shakespeare and John Keats, he also began to devour contemporary Canadian writers like Patrick Lane, Lorna Crozier, Alden Nowlan, and Al Pittman.