Derek Beaulieu is an author and editor who has worked on over twenty-five collections of poetry, prose, and criticism including Silence and Surface Tension. He received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his dedication to Albertan literature and has won multiple local and national awards for his teaching and commitment to students. He is the only graduate from the University of Calgary’s Department of English to receive the Faculty of Arts’ Celebrated Alumni Award. Beaulieu holds a PhD in creative writing from Roehampton University and has served as poet laureate of both Calgary and Banff, where he currently lives.