Some friends want to know the names of the books which Mr. Dave Windsor, my nominator, submitted to Rose Desnoyers,  Chair of the Committee of Cornwall and Area Arts Hall of Fame.  I have discussed in some interviews  that every book of the author is like children to their mother.  In other words, all children are equal for mother for one reason or other.

 To make my answer short, three books were submitted. The Flame and The Singer of Life were submitted to give samples of Stephen Gill’s contributions in the genre of poetry. The third book Stephen Gill in the West was submitted to show  how Stephen Gill is assessed in the West.

 It is obvious from Stephen Gill in the West that he has been published in the newspapers of the West more than he has been in India. From the point of news which are going to appear in a separate volume it becomes clearer that his activities as a writer have been covered more in the country of his adoption than in the country of his   birth. The same can be said about the reviews of his books.

  Stephen Gill in the West has been edited by Professor Dr. ID Tiwari, and published by Authors Press in 2017.  It is a collection of papers, essays, interviews,  book reviews and some poems. Professor Dr. ID Tiwari has authored several books, research papers and given a number of talks at national and international literary seminars and conferences. He is the Head of the Department of English Literature at IKS University in the province of Chhattisgarh, India. He edits Literary Discourses and several scholars have received doctorates under his supervision, including some who have done doctorates on Stephen Gill. Most of his adult life professor ID Tiwari  has been on a long and meaningful voyage in the deep seas of literature.

 About the books submitted:

1.The Flame,  a collection of sixty two (62) cantos, is a modern epic about the destruction caused by maniac messiahs. The author has used the word maniac messiahs for religious terrorists. In addition to numerous research papers by university professors, a book was edited by an established literary critic Professor Dr. Sudhir K. Arora, titled The Flame Unmasked,  released in 2010 by Prakash Book Depot, a prominent publisher of India.  I am quoting a few lines from a chapter  by R.C. Shukla, a respectable  poet, a literary critic and professor who taught English Literature and supervised several doctoral candidates:

“Extremely rich in symbolism and the use of imagery, Gill’s poem is an evidence of his astonishing merits as a poet. The use of new adjectives and nouns from the beginning to the end is sure to establish Stephen Gill as a poet par excellence. It is certain that no poet of England wrote poetry with such a rich stock of imagery except John Milton in his Paradise Lost and Samson Agnostes. Even the exceedingly romantic poet Shelley who wrote Prometheus Unbound has in his particular sense, been defeated by this great Canadian poet.” (p.9).

2- Second book that was submitted to give samples of Stephen Gill’s contributions in the genre of poetry is The Singer of Life. It is a collection of 34 Sufi sonnets and evaluations by eminent authors and professors of English Literature:

Selective opinions on THE SINGER OF LIFE :

*Canada: Daniel Bratton, professor of English Literature., author, recognized literary critic: --in his poetry the Western sonnet and the Eastern ghazal coalesce. His images underscore the paradox that Gill’s paragraphs mask an orthodoxy that sets him apart from his Canadian contemporaries…

*India:  I. D. Tiwari, author, Professor, Head, Dept. of English & Foreign Languages, GG University, Chhattisgarh:--These soothing sonnets would help any reader to unburden the tension. One of the prime aims of poetry is to provide recreation and these sonnets have it in abundance. The metaphors and similes are fresh as well as effective.  

 *Russia: Adolf P. Shvedchikov, author, nominee for Nobel Prize in literature:--Sonnets of Stephen Gill are very metaphoric and full of deep thoughts and feelings. They transform ordinary "prose of life" in the lyrical song of Songs of King Solomon, if a person is able to see divine beauty in the world.

*Germany: Frank Joussen, teacher of English Lit., peace activist, poet, author and editor: --Stephen Gill´s love sonnets are poetry at its best. The strict sonnet form varieted here…

*Romania: Olimpia Iacob, retired professor, editor, author, translator:-- Unconventional sonnets in  The Singer Of Life introduce the idiosyncratic art of Stephen Gill,  well-known also for love, peace and his philosophy of live and let live. The poet enriches the poetic universe with fresh and original images through the ingenious use of figurative language.

 Towards the end, I express my sincere thanks to all my friends and fans who have congratulated me on FaceBook and also by email for the honor of induction into The Arts Hall of Fame.  I appreciate their individual beautiful ways of congratulation. Letters are still coming that makes it not easy to quote them all. I may collect their lines in a booklet for posterity to enjoy reading those letters.

 Stephen Gill

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StephenGill, a multiple award-winning Indo/Canadian self-exiled poet, fiction writer, and essayist, has authored more than thirty books. He is the subject of doctoral dissertations and thirteen books of critical studies have been released. The focus of his writing is live and let live. Available For: writer or poet in residence.

WEBSITES: www.stephengill.ca & stephengillcriticism.info  (stephengillgazette@