Hundred Block Rock

Bud Osborn's point of reference is the street of the disenfranchised – literally, the street corners bordered by Main and Hastings on Vancouver's notorious East Side, known as "Hundred Block Rock"—the poorest neighbourhood in Canada. While this area is well-known for its drug users, criminals, and prostitutes, it is also home to recovering addicts, single mothers, and those whom society has cast aside. As a poet who has known the nightmare of addiction and poverty himself, Bud Osborn sheds light on the unforgiving darkness of Hundred Block Rock, putting faces and names to those who somehow find ways and means to survive there.

These poems are direct confessionals that speak valiantly and movingly of the community of the street: from detox centres and the wail of ambulance sirens to the poignant instances of junkies dancing in alleys, or the sound of jazz after midnight. They bring to life the squalid intensity of Hundred Block Rock, while at the same time articulating the redemptive spirit of survival that nurtures and sustains its habitués.

Many of the poems in Hundred Block Rock are also featured on a CD available from Festival Distribution.