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Des Walsh

Des Walsh

Acting

Biography

Desmond Walsh is a veritable cultural icon in Newfoundland, with six books of poetry published, including the acclaimed Love and Savagery, which was adapted for a motion picture by Morag Films in 2009. Talonbooks released the second edition of Love and Savagery concurrent with the film’s release. Walsh is also a noted screenwriter, playwright and musician. He was the 2001 and 2003 playwright-in-residence at the Playwright’s Workshop in Montreal and at Memorial University’s Grenfell College in Corner Brook, respectively. He also scripted the mini-series adaptation of Bernice Morgan’s Random Passage and Waiting for Time, which aired on the CBC in 2002, commenting that: “Morgan’s works are sacred material because they are, finally, our story.” Along with John Smith and Sam Grana, he co-wrote the intensely popular and critically acclaimed miniseries The Boys of St. Vincent. Having encountered the public education system in Placentia and St. John’s, he left school in grade ten, famously claiming it did nothing for him. His awards include a Gemini, a New York Festival Award, Italy’s Umbria Fiction Award, and Best Series (Cannes International TV Festival), all for co-writing The Boys of St. Vincent. Walsh currently divides his time between New Bonaventure, Trinity Bay and St. John’s.

Known For

Rain, Drizzle, and Fog
9.0

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, is North America's most easterly landfall. For half a millennium, its perfect harbour has provided a safe refuge in the middle of the treacherous North Atlantic. For 300 years of its history it was an actual crime to try and settle--Newfoundland was the private preserve of British fishing merchants. But people stayed, despite the colonial masters, despite the lack of law and order, despite hellish weather and raging seas. And the city grew--lurching through centuries of crisis, disaster, privation. For filmmaker Rosemary House, "This is still a hard rock land, a dirty old town at the back of beyond. And yet the St. John's townie is so proud, you'd swear we lived in Paris." In this documentary, she explores her city with the help of six locals, Mary Walsh, Andy Jones, Anita Best, Brian Hennessey, Ed Riche, Des Walsh, writers and performers all. (Source: National Film Board)

Rain, Drizzle, and Fog

1998Movie