National Network for Equitable Library Service

"From Ian Williams, author of Reproduction, winner of the Giller Prize and a June 2020 Indie Next Great Read Frustrated by how tough the issues of our time are to solve - racial inequality, our pernicious depression, the troubled relationships we have with other people - Ian Williams revisits the seemingly simple questions of grade school for inspiration: if Billy has five nickels and Jane has three dimes, how many Black men will be murdered by police? He finds no satisfaction, realizing that maybe there are no easy answers to ineffable questions.

Poetry that explores what it means to be a woman—a settler woman—in the wilderness.

"Poems that explore the author's vision and First Nations roots."--

"A collection of poems reflecting insights and experiences gained from the author's cultural roots and travels and homes in Asia, Europe and Canada."--

Air is essential for life. The need for air is so important that breathing is instinctual. Yet Air is unstable and capricious, blowing gently as a summer breeze in one moment and blasting with the fury of a tornado in the next. No wonder that tricksters, fairies, and spirits belong to Air just as much as winged creatures. Elusive and ethereal, Air’s denizens are difficult to find and harder to capture.

Long Division is a book of poetic commentary that plots a steady course of disillusion. Working in explicit dialogue with Dada, the surrealist poets, spiritual writing, and drawing on midrash as a wellspring, Gil McElroy captures in poetry the process of a mind in thought. Written in asides and afterwords, comments and commentaries, and interruptions and insertions, these poems challenge and disrupt meaning and intention.

Vistas of the West is a collection of poetry and visual art that celebrates the beauty and spirit of the Rocky Mountains, Western foothills, prairie landscapes, and the natural inhabitants of these beautiful environments.

Following the deaths of her Mennonite grandparents, Angeline Schellenberg began exploring in poetry their influence on her life. Her elegiac love letter to them articulates her grief against the backdrop of their involuntary emigration. She artfully captures the immigrant identity, vital to Canadian culture, in poems that draw on events both personal and global: war and famine, dementia and cancer, hidden sacrifice and secrets. Her poems captivate with themes of ancestry, memory, resilience, and forgiveness.

The poems in Ghosts Still Linger explore the past and present of the prairies, juxtaposing contemporary responses to grief and environmental issues with musings about iconic historical figures such as Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley. Kat Cameron's engaging and lyrical voice illuminates the unsung perspectives of the women of the West, creating a compelling narrative that reflects on her own struggles with sorrow.