Alcuin Society Citation for Excellence in Design

Signs of the Times reunites the poetry of Bud Osborn and the woodprints of Vancouver printmaker and painter Richard Tetrault. As with their first collaboration, Oppenheimer Park, Signs of the Times is both an unflinching look at Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and a beautiful object in its own right.

Praise for Signs of the Times:

“The greatest barriers we face are cynicism on the part of those who have the resources and power to make change happen, and hopelessness on the part of those who have had everything stripped from them. Signs of the Times meets these barriers head-on and shows us a way through, together.” (Libby Davies, from the Preface)

“Osborn reclaims the role of poet as social catalyst… Osborn challenges us to not turn away as he presents his characters in the harshness and brutality that result from the economic and social oppression they experience… These poems and prints are a revelation to those who live in the downtown eastside and to those who observe and are perplexed by the complexities and contradictions of this community. These two remarkable artists have offered themselves and their experience with generosity, openness, and compassion.” (Kim Elliott, rabble.ca)

“… a timeless marriage of ardent words in the tradition of Pablo Neruda and Walt Whitman, on behalf of those whose voices aren’t often heard, with striking woodcuts and linocuts reminiscent of the works of Lynd Ward and Clifford Harper. Osborn’s poems about the dehumanizing experience of being homeless in a city express a generic sense of outrage and compassion even as they describe specifically the lives of suffering junkies, prostitutes, and ‘binners’ in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.” (Chris Dodge, The UTNE Reader)