: About Me

Eric Goudie is a freelance writer, playwright and creative entrepreneur enjoying a diverse, fulfilling career in the creative and performing arts.

As a teenager, Eric had a poem published by the Poetry Institute of Canada, and was a recipient of the Dorothy Shoemaker Literary Award for Fiction. He wrote, produced and directed his first play, "To Be a Friend" while still in high school and participated for two years in the Lions Club Effective Speaking Contest, each time advancing to the provincial finals in his age category.

After earning his undergraduate degree in English and Drama from the University of Guelph Eric started Grinder Productions, realizing his dream of running his own theatre company. His first play was an original production called Seeing Red, or the story of Little Red Riding Hood your Mother didn't tell you, which was subsequently published as part of the Canadian Amateur Playwrights Catalogue through Questex Consulting Ltd.

Since then Eric has gone on to write many more full-length and one-act plays, almost exclusively for production with his own company, though theatres from across Canada and the United States have read and expressed interest in his works. He has also published a how-to manual for Production Managers entitled "Tech Theatre 101," which is available for purchase (along with many of his plays) at his online storefront at lulu.com.

Eric’s professional theatre experience as a Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Manager, Set Designer, Lighting Designer, Production Manager and Technician have allowed him to work with some of the best and brightest in Canadian Theatre, including Norm Foster, Brian MacKay and Doug Beattie, as well as recording artists La Toya Lesmond, The McCarrel Sisters and Juno Award winner Carlos Morgan.

Eric's newest literary pursuit is writing for Helium, where he has amassed a large and diverse portfolio of articles on subjects ranging from performing Shakespeare to tips for preventing mailbox vandalism. He is an editor for the site, as well as the Channel Manager for Theatre and Drama, and enjoys the opportunity to collaborate with his fellow writers to constantly improve the quality and quantity of writing that can be found on Helium.

Besides writing, Eric volunteers his time and expertise as a technician at the Fergus Grand Theatre, performing regular annual maintenance on the equipment and serving as a consultant on the purchase of new lighting, sound and staging gear for the building. He has also volunteered with Guelph Little Theatre, Galt Little Theatre, the Owen Sound Summerfolk Festival and many, many others.

Eric lives in a 150-year-old log cabin on a farm just north of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, with two cats and Julie, the love of his life.

My passion is ...

theatre

I know too much about ...

things that are of little or no value to me or others

My parents always told me ...

become a lawyer

My childhood ambition ...

was to get through it

My favorite memory ...

hasn't happened yet

Why I write ...

because it's the only way I have to work things out

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

plays, plays and more plays are about all I have time for

My first job ...

sucked

My best moment ...

hasn't happened yet

My inspiration ...

is the love of my life

Arts & Humanities > Poets & Poetry Poetry analysis: Men, by Maya Angelou

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“Men,” by Maya Angelou is a poem about a young girl’s coming of age and her first sexual experience. It is divided into four stanzas of varying lengths, and runs to just 49 lines. In the first stanza the female speaker takes us back to her teenage years (and, presumably, into her childhood) as she recalls gazing out the window at the men who pass by on the street outside her home. At first she is simply amazed at their diversity: “Wino men, old men./Young men as sharp as mustard," and then at their sense of purpose: “Men are always/Going somewhere.” At s...

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Writing:

• Marketplace Premier Writer
• Editorial Advisory Board
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• 2Marketplace Articles Sold
• Channel Manager Theater & Drama
• Helium Charter Member