Montreal, September 21, 2009 – Everyone knows who has just had a birthday. It’s Leonard. We all feel free to call him by his first name. He’s one of us— even if we have never shared a beer or a bed with him.

Katharine Beeman

Blossom Thom

Denis Brault

On the last day of summer, some fifty people gathered in the venerable auditorium of the Atwater Library for a gala celebration of Leonard Cohen’s 75th birthday.  The focus of the evening was a tribute anthology, Leonard Cohen You’re Our Man, which was officially launched on Thursday night. The book contains the work of seventy-five poets from all over the world “who have come together to express their voices in diverse reflection” notes the book’s editor and President of the Foundation for Public Poetry/Fondation Poésie Publique, Jack Locke. Of course, all the poems had one thing in common: they were Leonard-inspired.  

Ehab Lotayef

Elisha Hill

erica n white

Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to raising money for a Leonard Cohen Poet-in-the-Residence program at Cohen’s alma mater, Westmount High School.  

Grace Mooore

Marcia Goldberg

Dominic Papineau, who was in attendance to represent Friesens, the company that donated the printing of this 900-copy run, said he was pleased with the book. Among the names gracing its pages are Katharine Beeman, Jacob Scheier, Penn Kemp and Robert Priest. In all, some 23 poets were on hand to read their tribute poems.

Paris Elizabeth Sea

Nelly Roffé

Meredith Darling

Nelly Roffé translated and read Pour toi, her version of Cohen’s For You I will be a Ghetto Jew, and Meredith Darling performed Lady Vagabond, a piece based on the classic Cohen poem/song Suzanne. Ryan Ruddick, a teacher at Westmount High, charmed the audience with his performance of  Sorry all Over. Elisha Hill, one of his students, read Margaret Atwood’s contribution Setting Leonard to Music, one of the many items up for bids in the silent auction. Other items included various gift certificates, a necklace from South Africa, a calligraphy by Hongo Ren of a poem by Angela Leuck, a print by the artist Mort Rosengarten, a Renaissance Poetry Workshop (to rejuvenate employee creativity and productivity), a poster of “Want One” signed by Rufus Wainwright, and a limited edition print called “Back in Montreal” by the man himself.

Sandra Sjollema

Ryan Ruddick

Donna Yates Adelman

The spread included sushi, wine, French bread, cherry tomatoes, trays of juicy pineapple and watermelon, and, of course, birthday cake (an all-white chocolate cake).

Sandre Stephenson

J.J. Locke president of Foundation for Public Poetry with Dominic Papineau of Friesens Printers

Lydia Lockett

A serious political note was introduced into the evening when Ehab Lotayef preceeded the reading of his poem Baghdad! with a poetical plea to Cohen not to perform in Tel Aviv. You could hear a pin drop. It goes to show that a poet’s actions (though Cohen is now more songwriter than poet) can have consequences.