Stratford Literary Walking Tour 2018

Come celebrate Stratford Ontario’s literary heritage and take the Stratford Literary Walking Tour — James Reaney’s old high school Stratford Central Secondary School is one of ten stops on the way.

James Reaney was born and raised on a farm three miles east of Stratford in South Easthope Township, and he bicycled to and from high school every day for five years (1939-1944).

Between the highschool & the farmhouse
In the country and the town
It was a world of love and of feeling
Continually floating down
— From James Reaney’s poem “The Bicycle” (1962)

For more of James Reaney’s Stratford and Perth County inspired writing, see the links below:

Plays:

♦ Colours in the Dark (1967)

Short stories:

♦ The Box Social and Other Stories (1996)

Poems:

♦ “The Royal Visit” (1949)

♦ “The Windyard” (1956)

♦ From Twelve Letters To A Small Town, “The Bicycle” (1962) and “Shakespearean Gardens” (1962)

♦ “Going for the Mail” (1964)

♦ “Gifts” (1965)

♦ “Maps” (2005)

♦ “Brush Strokes Decorating a Fan” (2005)

♦ “Elderberry Cottage” (2005)

Perth County history:

♦ The Story of North Easthope (1982)