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(Posted 2 p.m., Nov. 23)
Gloucester's
most prolific poet still going strong at 80
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
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 Gloucester
poet Asoka Weerasinghe holds two of his latest
collections of poems during a recent photo
shoot in his Beacon Hill home. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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He’s
published 19 collections containing more than 400 poems
including his most recent offering “Pilgrimage to
Discover Dylan Thomas”, a literary tribute to his
favourite poet containing poems he's written and lovingly
cared for over 50-plus years.
He’s
published 19 collections containing more than 400 poems
including his most recent offering “POEMS: Pilgrimage
to Discover Dylan Thomas”, a literary tribute to
his favourite poet containing poems written and lovingly
cared for over more than half a century.
Asoka
Weerasinghe is Gloucester’s poet emeritus. By his
own “unofficial” count, he’s written more
than 800 poems, most of which are resting in suspended
respite in file boxes, scrap books and desk drawers in
his “slightly” – note the sarcasm –
cramped basement, watched over by a collection of wooden
masks he’s picked up during his biennial sojourns
to his native Sri Lanka.
Weerasinghe’s
love affair with the written word was first sparked as
a young public school student growing up in the Sri Lankan
capital of Colombo.
“We
read and memorized all the classic English poets... Wordsworth,
Tennyson and, of course, Dylan Thomas. He became my number
one poet,” recalls Weerasinghe. “I fell in love
with his work."
After
graduating from secondary school, Weerasinghe left Sri
Lanka in 1956 to study geology in London, England. By
day, he worked as a clerk for the London County Council,
which paid for part of his university studies. After five
years he graduated and started looking for a job.
One
day while job hunting he bought a science magazine and
saw an ad in the back for a petrology technician position
at Swansea University in Wales. He took an overnight commuter
train to the school expecting to be interviewed for the
job. Instead, he was given some advice to apply for a
scholarship to continue his studies in geology.
“Prof.
(Frank) Rhodes said to me, ‘We decided not to hire
you for the job, because if we did you would not be able
to accomplish your dream to become a geologist’.
So what you should do is apply for the London County Council's
Major County Award for University Studies and put Swansea
at the top of your list for colleges,” recalls Asoka,
who ended up getting accepted into Swansea which also
happens to be the birthplace of his favourite poet.
During
his free time, Weerasinghe visited Thomas’ old haunts,
including the boathouse and pubs in nearby Laugharne where
Thomas wrote many of his poems. It was also in Swansea
that Asoka met one of Thomas’ closest associates,
poet Vernon Watkins, who read several of his poems and
gave him an important piece of advice.
“He
said if I ever lose the mechanics of writing poetry I
should read Yeates, because is one of the most technically
brilliant poets there is and he was right,” says
Weerasinghe.
After
graduating from Swansea in 1967, he moved to Newfoundland
where he completed his Masters Degree in geology at Memorial
University and met his wife Jeannie at one of his poetry
readings on the campus.
The
couple moved to Ottawa in 1970 where Weerasinghe was hired
by the National Museums Corp. as the head of thematic
research to create 15 brand new exhibition halls at the
Victoria Memorial Museum in Ottawa. That eventually led
him to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans where enjoyed
a 20-year career.
Through
it all, Weerasinghe’s love affair with Dylan Thomas’
poetry never waned. If anything it grew stronger.
During
a pilgrimage to Dylan Thomas's Swansea birthhouse in January
2012, he met the curator Annie Haden which resulted in
Weerasinghe being invited to return as Poet-in-Residence
during the Dylan Thomas Sung and Word Festival later that
fall.
“That
was the biggest honour I’ve ever had as a poet. It
was the pinnacle for me. I actually got to sleep in his
room for five days,” says Weerasinghe.
He
returned there again last fall to take part in the centennial
celebration of Thomas’ birth. He put together and
published “Pilgrimage to Discover Dylan Thomas”
as a centenary tribute to his favourite poet.
Weerasinghe
has won countless awards for his poetry and is highly
sought after the world over to give poetry readings. He’s
even won a plethora of medals for ballroom dancing and
served as Sri Lanka’s deputy High Commissioner in
Ottawa for six years from 1989 to 1994, but those are
both stories for another day.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
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TAPROOM 260 presents Crooked Creek live from 8-11 p.m. at 260 Centrum Blvd. For more information visit 
MATT LULOFF W/ EDISON RUPERT performing at the Stray Dog Brewing Company, 501 Lacolle Way in the Taylor Creek Business Park. To register your team visit 
OTTAWA CARLETON MALE CHOIR in concert at the Navan-Vars United Church 1129 Smith Rd. in Navan at 2:30 p.m. Tickets $20 at the door.
THE ORLÉANS BREWING CO. presents Oyster Wednesdays every Wednesday. The Orléans Brewing Co. is located at 4380 Innes Rd. near McDonalds.
BLACKBURN HAMLET COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The entire community is invited…rain or shine! Please keep visiting blackburn.ca for more up-to-date information as it becomes available.
