Islander 'honoured' to write tributes for Vimy 100 celebrations
CBC News | Posted: April 12, 2017 6:00 PM | Last Updated: April 12, 2017
Kent Stetson drew inspiration from grandfather, who fought in First World War
An Islander played a major role in the Vimy 100 celebrations in France on Sunday.
Kent Stetson, a Governor General Award-winning playwright and author and also a member of the Order of Canada, wrote The Torch: A Suite of Elegies to Gratitude and Compassion, a series of 16 touching monologues that was read during the service.
"It was a great honour to have been asked to write these tributes to the courage and compassion of the human spirit," he said on CBC's Mainstreet P.E.I.
- 100 years later: Leaders pay homage to fallen soldiers at Vimy Ridge
- P.E.I. cadet corps pays homage to fallen soldiers of Vimy Ridge
- Vimy voyagers: P.E.I. students join tens of thousands of Canadian youth for 100th anniversary
About 25,000 people attended the ceremony at Canadian National Vimy Memorial in northern France. Stetson said the experience was "more than one could have imagined."
It was a great honour to have been asked to write these tributes to the courage and compassion of the human spirit. - Kent Stetson
"It makes one believe there is a world of hope available if we all work together in the proper way," he said.
Stetson said he drew inspiration for the monologues from his grandfather, who fought in the First World War.
"The horror of what happened to them, that they saw, what they experienced and, in fact, what they did, they brought that home with them and it filters down through generations," he said.
- MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Europe trade deal could boost spring lobster season
- MORE P.E.I. NEWS | P.E.I. raises income limit for home energy program