Author Archives: Barry Pomeroy

About Barry Pomeroy

I had an English teacher in high school many years ago who talked about writing as something that people do, rather than something that died with Shakespeare. I began writing soon after, maudlin poetry followed by short prose pieces, but finally, after years of academic training, I learned something about the magic of the manipulated word.

Teaching Farley Mowat

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

Farley Mowat occupies a curious position in Canadian letters. He is a kind of Ernest Hemingway of the north, but in the academic world of English study, he is never dressed well enough to be invited to the party. Some … Continue reading →

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Travelling Without Geography

Posted on October 10, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

Most people around the world marvel when American television shows feature street geography quizzes and Americans cannot point to a single country on a map. The subsequent discussion usually centres around the failing American education system, the geographical ignorance that … Continue reading →

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Excerpt from the second in the Life at Sea series: Landlocked

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

He tried to recover the salt air, the yelling men in the rigging, and the other piecemeal accoutrements of the nautical life. He rarely imagined himself on a whaler, although Moby Dick had taught him to expect the hardy meals … Continue reading →

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Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Covid

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

News about the Covid 19 virus has become a ubiquitous backdrop in our lives, and the media’s frenzy in our lives has become more ubiquitous than the trappings of the disease itself. More than masks and people side-eying while they … Continue reading →

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Don’t Tell the Archaeologist

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

My friend was flanked by two Inuit elders as she repeatedly picked up and asked about bones found on the ground. “A walrus rib,” the elder would reply, and then my friend would be off after another object. She knew … Continue reading →

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Writing as a Logical Series of Steps

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

The inevitability of plot is one of the easiest aspects of writing. As a storyteller you shove a metal key into your characters, wind them up like a toy, and watch them perform series of proscribed motions. Many of the … Continue reading →

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Always a Working Light Bulb

Posted on September 2, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

No one who has lived in the west and has observed the rampant consumerism and waste will be surprised by yet another example of still functioning goods thrown away, but when people learn about the light bulbs, many are still … Continue reading →

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Shovels are the New Gold for the Survivalist

Posted on August 31, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

People who worry about the collapse of society are usually preoccupied with that they can do now to prepare for that—they imagine—inevitable eventuality. That preparation invariably involves hoarding of goods, for many of them are interested in shopping and come … Continue reading →

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From The History of Planeville

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

For them, Amy was what their grandparents would have called a witch, and they imagined invisible tendrils of control, a delicate understanding of human desire and the torrid expectations of jealousy, a look which could pass information that language could … Continue reading →

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Found Sentences: Our Past and Present Future

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Barry Pomeroy

Usually the student sentences which stand out for me are more than merely comical. I am also less interested in those errors which some see as comic, especially in terms of laughing at the student’s expense. I am much more … Continue reading →

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