Author Thomas King reads from his book of poetry, 77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin

Last week, q embarked on a field trip to Guelph, Ont., where host Tom Power took the stage at the River Run Centre to put on a live show for the Hillside Inside Festival.

One of Canada's finest writers, Guelph resident Thomas King, joined Power on stage to read from his brand new book of poetry, 77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin.

King's writing is provocative, insightful, sometimes humorous, and always incredibly timely. His celebrated books include Truth and Bright Water, The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America and The Back of the Turtle, but 77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin is his first collection of poetry.

"Poems kind of leave you bare — there's no place to hide in a poem," said King. "In that regard, they are wondrous things, but they're scary as hell. ... You want me to stand in front of my living room window and take off my clothes. That's what poetry feels like sometimes."

77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin is out now.

Download our podcast or click the 'Listen' link above to hear the full conversation with Thomas King.

— Produced by Danielle Grogan