Shortlisted for the Raymond Souster Award — League of Canadian Poets
Shortlisted for the Canadian Authors Association Award for PoetryIn her fifth collection of poetry, Catherine Graham breaks into rich, new territory. Long recognized for the easy grace and strange beauty of her poems about grief and remembrance, in Her Red Hair Rises with the Wings of Insects, she turns her thoughts toward poems of tribute and exaltation. Paying homage to the work of two inspiring poets?P. K. Page, whose long life and celebrated career have made her a legend in her native Canada, and Dorothy Molloy, an Irish poet whose life was tragically cut short just as readers were discovering the true scope of her talents?Graham has crafted an ocean-spanning book of deep feeling, good humour and hard-won solace.
Catherine Graham's the author of four previous poetry collections, including the acclaimed trilogy Pupa, The Red Element, and Winterkill. She teaches creative writing at the University of Toronto's School of Continuing Studies, and her poetry has appeared in journals and anthologies around the world. A new and selected volume of her poetry is forthcoming in the United Kingdom. She lives in Toronto.
"This is no simple book of poetry. It is sensual and dark, a feast for the senses. Her grace with language is sublime." - Canadian Poetries
"The gothic, textured, ornately spare cover design is gorgeous and the experimental entrances into Dorothy Molloy's poems are fascinating. I adore form and fiddlings with it and Graham shows what can happen when one reads a deceased poet's work so deeply that their spirit in a sense infiltrates, shaping not only the content, but more importantly, the structure of the work." - The Relentless Adventures of OCD Crow
"She has the technical mastery to make the glosas disappear - what I mean is that the technique vanishes and we are left with strong, vibrant poems that aren't bridled by technique. There is humour, wit, sensual experience, fantasy and grace in these poems. Hard to ask for more than that. It is also a delight to read, to recommend." - Michael Dennis Poet