Contents:
The House That Stands - Press Release
The House That Stands - Alcuin Society Book Design Award
The House That Stands - Hon. Margaret Norrie McCain's Speech
The House That Stands - Links

PRESS RELEASE

THE LATEST FROM ANCHORAGE PRESS
25 SEPTEMBER 2008

TITLE: The House That Stands
AUTHOR: Stefan A. Rose
RELEASE DATE: 27 September 2008
PRICE: $9.99

On Saturday 27 September 2008, a book launch for The House That Stands was held in the Wallace McCain Student Centre, Mount Allison University, 62 York Street, Sackville, NB. The author was in attendance and part of the poem was read during the Grand Opening of the new Student Centre (to an assembled audience of approximately two thousand people) by the Honourable Margaret Norrie McCain, former Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick.

The House That Stands is a long poem in twenty-two parts that takes an impressionistic view of university residence life in the former all-male Trueman House residence at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. While attending Mount Allison, author Stefan A. Rose lived in Trueman House for six years and closely observed the patterns of development and change in the residents and within the university. The long poem looks at personal and shared history from several viewpoints, and is written with simple language, carefully placed: attentive to the possible layers of meaning. In parts humourous and serious, it is a sensitive and thoughtful interpretation of university residence life with a look at the building’s 60-year history, at male-female interactions, and at the antics of young men in a rarefied environment of insular, testosterone-fuelled, youthful energy.

The House That Stands, a 32-page chapbook, measures 5˝ x 11 inches, with printed cover over card, designed by Andrew Steeves for Anchorage Press in Jolicure, NB.

The House That Stands is available in Waterloo at Words Worth Books and Old Goat Books, and in Guelph at The Bookshelf.

BACKGROUND
Stefan A. Rose graduated from Mount Allison University with an Engineering Certificate (1987), Bachelor of Science (1989), and Bachelor of Fine Arts (1991), and presently resides in Waterloo, Ontario. He is an artist interested in creative and documentary forms, using photography, videography, and poetry. He has exhibited his photographs in numerous solo and group exhibitions, has received support from the New Brunswick Arts Board and the Ontario Arts Council, and was a recipient of the Equinox Emerging Artist Video Award.

CONTACT: Anchorage Press, P.O. Box 6393, Sackville, NB, Canada E4L 1G6
E: info at anchoragepress.ca
W: www.anchoragepress.ca

CONTACT: Stefan A. Rose, 216 King Street South, Unit 7, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2J 1R3
E: stefan_rose at hotmail.com
T: 519-576-6159

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ALCUIN SOCIETY BOOK DESIGN AWARD

8 APRIL 2009

Vancouver, BC - The Alcuin Society has announced the winners of its 27th annual Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. The judges, Frank Newfeld, Alan Stein, and E.A. Hobart (Zab), selected 32 winning titles from 233 entries, 7 provinces, and 89 publishers. In some categories, the judges chose to award a Fourth prize in addition to, or instead of, Honourable mention. There were two categories this year (Prose Non-fiction and Reference) where a First prize was not awarded.

"Designers, illustrators, typographers, printers, writers and publishers have collaborated to bring together words, images, type, paper and binding, to express themselves in these works of art," commented Leah Gordon, Alcuin Society Board member and Design Competition Committee Chair. "All the entries demonstrate that there's nothing like the look and feel of a well-designed book."

The winning books will be shown across Canada and exhibited at the Tokyo International Book Fair in Japan, and the Frankfurt and Leipzig International Book Fairs. They will compete in the biggest annual book-design competition in the world, in Leipzig, Germany, in February 2010.

First prize winner, Poetry category, is Andrew Steeves, designer for The House That Stands by Stefan A. Rose. Steeves also won Second prize in the Poetry category for The Muskwa Assemblage by Don McKay, and 2nd prizes in Prose Fiction and Prose Non-Fiction categories, for That Tune Cluches My Heart by Paul Headrick and Wisdom & Metaphor by Jan Zwicky, respectively. He also won Third prize in the Prose Non-Fiction Illustrated category for In Black & White: a Wood Engraver's Odyssey, by Wesley W. Bates, and Third prize in the Pictorial category went to Andrew Steeves with Thaddeus Holownia for Thaddeus Holownia's Silver Ghost (also published by Anchorage Press).

The Alcuin Society (www.alcuinsociety.com) is a Vancouver-based not-for-profit society for the support and appreciation of fine books. In addition to the annual Book Design Competition, the Society publishes a quarterly journal, Amphora, and organizes lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and field visits on various aspects of the book.

The complete list of winning book designs in PDF format is available from the Alcuin Society's Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada site (opens in a new window).

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The House That Stands - Hon. Margaret Norrie McCain's Speech

Web Exclusive

MOUNT ALLISON UNIVERSITY STUDENT CENTRE LAUNCH
September 27, 2008

Remarks of the Hon. Margaret Norrie McCain

Mr. Chancellor, Mr. President, Chancellor Emeritus Purdy Crawford, Senators, donors, distinguished guests, friends, and fellow Allisonians — good afternoon. It’s great to look out into a sea of familiar faces.

This is a very special and exciting day for me and for our family - our connection to this wonderful institution means a lot to all of us and goes back a long way.

Both my parents and all my siblings (seven of them) attended Mt. A as did Wallace and me and all our children. Both of us sat on the Board of Regents and I was Chancellor from 1986 to 1995. 

This is also an important day for Mt. Allison and the citizens of Sackville whose lives have been inextricably entwined with this University for almost 170 years —back to 1839 when Charles Frederick Allison, a local businessman, fulfilled his vision for an educational institution to serve the young people of this region and this province. 

It is our hope that this complex will cement that connection between the two worlds of “town and gown”.

Behind me, in the central part of the new Student Centre, is the Trueman Atrium. I was here, as a young child, on May 22, 1945 when the cornerstone of Trueman House was laid and I remember the pride I felt that day. Trueman House was built to replace the Men’s Residence that burned in 1941. I remember that day. It makes this ceremony all the more meaningful.

The house was named after Dr. George Trueman, my great-uncle and the family patriarch who was the President of Mount Allison from 1923 to 1945.

I was very close to this wonderful man — in fact, I did my undergraduate history thesis on the period of Mt. A history when he was president.

There are not many people alive today who remember him but I can tell you — he was a good President who was held in very high regard and affection. It means a lot to me that his name is being preserved on this campus at the heart of a complex that will truly be central to the lives of Mount Allison students. This would please him enormously.

He would also recognize that times change.

Trueman House throughout its life as a student residence, from 1945 to 2005, housed thousands of men (and in later years, women). If those walls could have talked what stories could have gone into the annals of this University’s history and into the time capsules.

Through the eyes and lives of multiple friends as well as my son, Scott, my brothers George and Roderick and my nephew, Jeff, I know what Trueman House meant to those students. From the Theology students in West Section to the Engineers in the East Section — people who had vastly different goals and life styles — Trueman House left a foot print on their hearts and, yes, even their minds. They learned more about life from each other within those walls than they ever learned in the classrooms. Women were barred from Trueman House in my day and we really would liked to have had a peek into the inner sanctum; this bastion of testosterone!!. We only got as far as Tweedie Hall but, believe me, we heard the stories.

Now, what was Trueman House is the entry point into a multi-faceted student complex which will address all aspects of their development.

The culture at Mt. Allison has always been warm, welcoming and inclusive. Small classes and a committed faculty have nurtured a supportive environment rooted in excellence, that has always taught, and continues to teach, students to believe in themselves.

My professors dared me to dream big and gave me the tools to achieve my goals. They gave me self confidence and helped me find my voice.  I think of Dr. Donald Kerr, my first year History professor, who liked my first year paper and talked me into doing an Honours Programme. I can still remember that day — I left his office floating 10 feet off the ground. He made me feel I could climb any mountain.

Once, we thought it was enough in University to impart and seek knowledge. Today, we know that to reach their full potential, students need to be mentally and physically fit as well. This Centre will address all the holistic needs of students to be sound in Mind, Body and Spirit and it will give them the preparation they need to be the best they can be in the classroom.

This Centre will be even more — it will be the gathering place for students, faculty, administrators and citizens of Sackville. Here, they will come together for fun, fitness, intellectual sharing and vigourous discussion and debate.

 I wish this had been part of my student experience. All we had was Mel’s Restaurant and I do remember it with nostalgia and affection — eight to a booth!!

We loved it!!

But it wasn’t enough.

Wallace and I have been very blessed. We have worked hard and we have challenged ourselves and each other. We have traveled the world and done our best to make it a little better. Now, we are thrilled to share our blessings with Mt. Allison and the people of Sackville.  (My mother’s family came from Upper Sackville).

It’s an interesting story, how we came to make this gift. We wanted to celebrate Wallace’s 75th birthday and give him something special. So when our family gathered for dinner that night, we told him we had good news and we had bad news. The good news, we said, was that we were going to make a gift to help build a new Student Centre at Mount Allison. The bad news was that he was going to have to pay for it!

Much will happen within the walls of the Centre. I urge the students of today and tomorrow to take advantage of all the opportunities available here — they may help to shape your lives. Who Knows? Discussion within these walls may ignite the ambitions of a future prime minister. Your faculty will provide you with knowledge but the debates and discussions that will go on here, some in the “wee hours,” will light fires for the future.

Mount Allison is one of Canada’s most distinguished universities. I am proud to be a part of this landmark event or of the role this Centre will play in the lives of the students, the faculty and the citizens of Sackville. It will be the centre of your lives here and well into the future. Congratulations to all who made it possible.

May God bless all who pass through these doors.

I’ll leave you with an excerpt from a poem written by Stefan Rose, a Fine Arts student who graduated from Mount Allison in 1991. He’s had it published recently by Anchorage Press. The book is entitled, The House that Stands. It’s about the former Trueman House.

(Stefan A. Rose, The House That Stands, poem XXII)

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Links:

The above Web Exclusive is from the Mount Allison University JUMP Mount Allison Campaign website (opens in new window).

See photos of the Wallace McCain Student Centre Grand Opening (opens in new window).

See a review of the Alcuin Awards exhibition (opens in new window).

See a note regarding Andrew Steeves' multiple Alcuin Awards (opens in new window).

Other excerpts from The House That Stands, are available on this site at Writing - The House That Stands.