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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, September 12, 2012 · 24 Travelling poet stops at home before next adventure By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF He's gone from furnace-like temperatures in Iraq to the deep freeze of the Canadian Arctic to get inspired. Now, Oakville's Patrick Woodcock is back home to write. The author of eight poetry books has recently returned to the Oakville home he's grown up in after spending nine months in Fort Good Hope, a small community in the North West Territories located about 20 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle. In those nine months, he volunteered with the village elders, helping them stay active and engaged in the community and to raise money for them. His intent, however, was to get inspired for a current series of books he's writing about his stay in Iraq, from which he returned to Canada about a year ago. "I always go somewhere drastically different than the place where my post just was," he said. Between Iraq and Fort Good Hope, Woodcock spent only two weeks in Oakville, in the same home he grew up in and where his father still lives. He has also recently released the first of three books about his observations from his stay in the Kurdish north of Iraq where he worked as an educator and university lecturer in literature, poetry and essay writing. Even though he's nearly a year removed from Iraq, the country is still heavily on his mind, plus he kept extensive journals, wrote the rough drafts of his poetry and took many photos. Now, he just needs to put it all together for the second and, later, third books. The nine months following his stay in Iraq offered up a completely different environment allowing him to write freely and honestly. "In some ways, it becomes clearer," the 44-year-old said. "The important thing is to get it down, to capture whatever is important to you right away. And then, I usually find, if I write something immediately, it's not as good as when I let it ferment for a while." The first book, titled Echo Gods and Silent Mountains, is an introduction to the region and a poetic time where I was watching a community die, which is what's happening there," he said. For starters, the community is isolated, which creates problems of its own, he said. Alcohol is an issue in the community. There are residential schools, which do not teach the local youths the Aboriginal ways of life, creating a rift in the community's society. "There is a lot of healing and forgiveness necessary for the community to move forward and I didn't see that happening a lot. I hope it does. I met wonderful people," he said. During his time there, he has learned to hunt and fish and to navigate the Mackenzie River, which can be a treacherous journey for the unaccustomed boater. "I loved it. It got cold. It was minus 48, but when you're dressed for it, you don't really feel it," he said. Travelling to these places is necessary for Woodcock. While he's in another country or a different society, his senses are constantly being bombarded as he sees something new at every corner, something he can't get at home. "Whenever you're in those places, every time you go outside there's something new. You're constantly being inspired by something, whether it's the sound of music or the smell of food or a new language that you're trying to come to terms with ... It just keeps you awake," he said. "I push myself to fly to these places and to work and to try to learn a different language and to adjust. Going from such a liberal, celebratory country like Columbia and then two weeks later I'm walking in Iraq, alone, not knowing what I'm doing, that's really exciting." Woodcock's previous book, Always Die Before Your Mother, reached No. 1 on The Globe and Mail's bestseller list. Echo Gods and Silent Mountains is listed at $18.95. For more information, visit www.ecwpress.com. Dominik Kurek can be reached at dkurek@oakvillebeaver.com or followed on Twitter at @ DominikKurek. Artscene eric riehl / oakville beaver / @halton_photog at home before he heads out on his next adventure. journal. His adventure in Fort Good Hope is a continuation of the current series, as it will help him write the third book. The book will be about elders in various societies around the world, such as the elders living in Iraq juxtaposed with those living in the Canadian north and those living in Africa. Africa is the intended place for his next travel adventure. Originally, he planned to be in an African country already, but the plan fell through, so he's back to looking for an acceptable position. In the meantime, he will remain in Oakville for the next few months teaching communications at Sheridan College. This will be PAGES OF LIFE: Oakville poet Patrick Woodcock leafs through the pages of one of his poetry books while stopping among the longest stays he's had in Oakville in the past two decades. Woodcock began his travel adventures about 20 years ago; living and working in the countries he stays in, while getting inspired to write. His first destination was Poland after a suggestion from a Polish co-worker at the pizza shop he worked in while he was attending university studying literature. He ended up going to teach English in schools for the next four years. "There's no point in doing what I do, or I couldn't do what I do, if I went for a couple of weeks. I don't even get my bearings in a place until I've been there at least three months," he said. "When you work in the community, in the country, you're giving something back to the community. You're also immersing yourself in the local culture. I don't hang out with foreigners when I travel." In 20 years, Woodcock said he's been to about 40 countries, and lived for at least three months in many of them. Fort Good Hope has been the most different of all of them, he said. "Everywhere that I've gone it's always been during reconstruction or a period of rebirth. "Fort Good Hope is the first place I've lived for a long period of