This ground-breaking book by the renowned poet and magazine editor Karen Mulhallen concerns itself with the water, the lakes and the oceans, and the solitary pursuits like fishing which take us back t
This ground-breaking book by the renowned poet and magazine editor Karen Mulhallen concerns itself with the water, the lakes and the oceans, and the solitary pursuits like fishing which take us back to the beginnings of human life. The further back we go the closer we are to the world of spirits manifesting themselves as natural forms. The book opens on the Baja coast of California. Human beings, native peoples, occupied that coast more than a thousand years ago. White settlers never arrived there until the 16th century. In the desert and on the uninhabited coastline of the Baja one can feel these old forces. In western Mexico in a small fishing village the narrator of these poems meets a man who had sailed down from northern California, basically in an open boat. There was a small cabin. But his experiences of the sea in the narrative of this work tells us how Europeans had come to Ontario, and what must it have been like. And of course the great lakes with their tides and their depths continue that tradition of encounter with the elements. The poems in this collection tell a story, and weave motifs of history and spirituality and their connection to earth, water and fire.
Karen Mulhallen is a well known Canadian poet, teacher, scholar and editor. She has been the force behind Descant magazine, one of the most prestigious literary and arts periodicals in North America. Born in Woodstock, Ontario, Mulhallen received her B.A. from Waterloo Lutheran University in 1963, and an M.A. and PhD (English) at University of Toronto. From 1974-1979, Mulhallen served as the poetry review editor of The Canadian Forum. Mulhallen is also the winner of numerous Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council Awards. She has authored nearly a dozen books, and is renowned for her scholarly research and writing about William Blake.
View Biographical note