The Ralph and Betty Gustafson Trust was established at Vancouver Island University in 1998 from the estate of the late Ralph Gustafson (1909–1995), one of Canada’s preeminent poets. For over six decades, Ralph Gustafson practiced his craft and shared his love of language with successive generations of poets. He wrote almost 40 books, including more than 24 books of poetry, a collection of essays, and a book of short stories. He compiled the first anthology of Canadian poetry, published by Penguin in 1942, and was a music critic in New York for over a decade before returning to Canada in 1963. His book Fire on Stone, published in 1974, won the Governor General’s Award for Poetry, and Configurations at Midnight received the 1993 qspell a.m.. Klein Poetry Prize. Gustafson was a member of the Order of Canada, co-founder and life member of the League of Canadian Poets, and a life member of Keble College, Oxford. He was the recipient of numerous medals, honorary degrees, and awards of merit, including the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal, and the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada. While he worried about poetry’s place in the world, he continued to grow in his art, to write with clarity and efficiency, poems filled with wisdom. In spite of fad and fashion, Ralph Gustafson sang with the best of contemporary poets, in an exultant voice.
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