It’s easy to find new music, but what about new poetry? The task can be a little daunting, especially if your TBR is already out of control! We’ve tried to make things more approachable by matching these poetry books to musicians you know and love. Choose a book based on your all-time favourite artist or simply your current mood!
Björk, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes
knee deep in high water: riding the Muskwa-Kechika, expedition poems by Bronwyn Preece (Caitlin Press)
knee deep in high water is Bronwyn Preece’s chronicle of an immersive journey into a remote area of Northern BC. After a devastating leg injury, she embarks on horseback into BC backcountry for two weeks. We think the music from these artists evoke mountainous imagery and embody the spirit of a person immersing herself in wilderness.
In her poems, Preece grapples with her role as a settler in the unceded lands that provide her with so much comfort and attachment, as well as her own fragility and strength in relation to the terrains she explores. knee deep in high water is a love letter to the trail, and to returning home.
Out now!
Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Billie Holiday
A Brief and Endless Sea by Barbara Pelman (Caitlin Press)
Lovers of the beautiful and introspective lyrics of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, and charged nostalgia of Billie Holiday will delight in this collection of poems from award-winning poet Barbara Pelman.
Born out of waiting out the lockdown during the early days of the pandemic, Barbara Pelman’s A Brief and Endless Sea explores a life in retrospect, beginning with a high school typing class and ending with the Angel Purah, cutting the ties that bind a soul to a body. Many of the poems in this book are rooted in Jewish tradition. Using the power of words to map a route out, A Brief and Endless Sea pulls us toward life in all of its vibrant details.
Out on October 13, 2023!
Kate Bush, Hozier, Sufjan Stevens
The White Light of Tomorrow by Russell Thornton (Harbour Publishing)
In award-winning poet Russell Thornton’s ninth book, he crafts potent, shadowy poems that leak light. Fans of dark, thematic lyrics that often conjure up religious or ancient imagery might also be fans of Thornton’s work, which is often informed by classical myths and poems.
These poems examine how beauty often comes from suffering, explore themes of isolation, and are filled with striking imagery. Passionate and moving, this collection marks a fine advance in Thornton’s expanding poetic output.
Out now!
Buffy Saint-Marie, Joni Mitchell, Celine Dion
Hologram: Homage to P.K. Page Edited by Yvonne Blomer & DC Reid (Caitlin Press)
P.K. Page. was a prolific writer who was a significant influence in Canada’s literary landscape. If you’re into these iconic female Canadian singers, we think you’d also enjoy this homage to an iconic female poet.
Hologram is a poetic tribute to one of Canada’s most celebrated poets. Edited by Yvonne Blomer and DC Reid, and featuring pieces from renowned poets including John Barton, Marilyn Bowering, Lorna Crozier, Eve Joseph, Patrick Lane, Alice Major, kjmunro, Patricia Young, and many others, Hologram is testament to the mentoring that P.K. Page offered through community and conversation, as a living writer and through her poetry.
Out now!
Solange, Adele, FKA Twigs
Burning Sage: Poems from the Lytton Fire by Meghan Fandrich (Caitlin Press)
The themes of loss, healing, and finding community present in the work of these singers are also present in the poems in Burning Sage.
A passionate personal account of the loss of a community, Burning Sage is a deeply touching and timely debut. On the day that Lytton, BC, burned to the ground, Meghan Fandrich ran from the flames. She went home after a month-long evacuation to its ashes. Burning Sage shares Meghan’s deeply personal story of the fire, the ensuing trauma, and the path out of it. The poems follow the arc of shock, fear, and anger, and the impossibility of single parenting in a burned-up town, and paint a vivid portrait of grief and heartbreak and, ultimately, of healing.
Out now!