Michael Ondaatje Is Learning Everything Again

Sri Lankan-born Canadian essayist, poet, and Booker Prize-winning novelist Michael Ondaatje has just released a stunning collection of poems. Ondaatje is now 80 years old and it’s almost half a century since he published his first novel; even longer since he first published poetry. This week, Michael joins Read This for a conversation about A Year of Last Things and why writing remains such a joyful act of discovery.

Reading list:

Coming Through Slaughter, Michael Ondaatje, 1976

In the Skin of a Lion, Michael Ondaatje, 1986

The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems, Michael Ondaatje, 1989

The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, 1992

Handwriting, Michael Ondaatje, 1998

Anil's Ghost, Michael Ondaatje, 2000

Divisadero, Michael Ondaatje, 2007

The Cat's Table, Michael Ondaatje, 2011

Warlight, Michael Ondaatje, 2018

A Year of Last Things, Michael Ondaatje, 2024

The Collected Poems of W. S. Merwin, 2013

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Guest: Michael Ondaatje