Last Water Song [Paperback]

Patrick Lane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2007

Shortlisted for the 2008 Acorn-Plantos Award for People's Poetry

Longlisted for the 2007 Victoria Butler Book Prize

Last Water Song, the first collection of new poetry from award-winning poet Patrick Lane since Go Leaving Strange (Harbour, 2004), is divided into two parts. The first part is a series of 16 long elegies on writer acquaintances who have died, including Adele Wiseman, Al Purdy, Earle Birney and Irving Layton. Prosey, relaxed and personal, these are some of the most moving poems Lane has written. The second section consists of 23 lyrics and narratives more typical of Lane's recent work, ranging from the eloquent "Teaching Poetry" to the evocative title poem with its hint of finality. Last Water Song is the work of a great Canadian poet, a collection to treasure.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Patrick Lane has been following an incantatory breath line for the last several years, and with Last Water Song, his new collection of poetry, he has found his way."
"It shows a Lane to be a poet without peak; stylistically and thematically, he has always been powerfully reflective."
--Christine Matte, Monday Magazine (Praise for Last Water Song )

About the Author

Patrick Lane, considered by most writers and critics to be one of Canada's finest poets, was born in 1939 in Nelson, BC. He grew up in the Okanagan region of the BC interior, primarily in Vernon. He came to Vancouver and co-founded a small press, Very Stone House with bill bissett and Seymour Mayne. He then drifted extensively throughout North and South America. He has worked at a variety of jobs from labourer to industrial accountant, but much of his life has been spent as a poet, having produced twenty-four books of poetry to date. He is also the father of five children and grandfather of five. He has won nearly every literary prize in Canada, from the Governor General's Award to the Canadian Authors Association Award to the Dorothy Livesay Prize. His poetry and fiction have been widely anthologized and have been translated into many languages. Lane now makes his home in Victoria, BC, with his companion, the poet Lorna Crozier.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Harbour; 1 edition (September 19, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550174509
• ISBN-13: 978-1550174502
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,775,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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