Intro

Christine Lowther is an author, poet and editor whose prose and poetry have been published in The Goose, The Malahat Review, subTerrain, Poetry is Dead, Other Voices, The Fiddlehead, The New Quarterly, Room, and WordWorks. She lives and writes with gratitude in the unceded territory of the ƛaʔuukʷiʔatḥ (Tla-o-qui-aht) nation. Christine’s piece “Environmental Services” was shortlisted for the 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize. Her work appears in anthologies including Sweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds, Refugium: Poems for the Pacific, Rising Tides: Reflections for Climate Changing Times, Force Field: 77 Women Poets of British Columbia, and Locations of Grief: an Emotional Geography. Chris lived for three months as writer-in-residence at Historic Joy Kogawa House in Vancouver BC, and won the inaugural Rainy Coast Arts Award for Significant Accomplishment from the Pacific Rim Arts Society in Tofino. Her essay "The Shaking Man" won first prize in the Federation of British Columbia Writers' Literary Writes, nonfiction category. Christine was Poet Laureate of Tofino for the 2020-2022 term. She now serves on the Selection Committee of Tofino's Poet Laureate Working Group. Christine's newest poetry collection, Hazard, Home, launched with Caitlin Press on February 2nd, 2024. Check out her books below!

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

List of Works






New poetry collection Hazard, Home expected to launch February 2nd, 2024 via Caitlin Press!

Hazard, Home is a tribute to both wonder and grief for Earth’s inhabitants and systems. With admiration for the land holders (trees) and inhabitants of the rainforest, wetlands and oceans of her home, former Tofino Poet Laureate Christine Lowther delves into the pressing issues of urbanization, climate change, and loss of biodiversity while expressing her deep concern for those feathered, furred, webbed, and rooted. Hazard, Home is set apart from traditional nature poetry by its decolonial lens which pays tribute to stolen lands as well as displaced people and cultures. Lowther’s words are both startling and reflective as she bears witness to the devastating impact of our presence on the natural world. Through her evocative writing, Lowther inspires us to celebrate the beauty of nature while recognizing the urgent need for change.






Worth More Growing

Youth Poets Pay Homage to Trees

Edited by Christine Lowther
Caitlin Press, Qualicum Beach, BC. 2022
https://caitlin-press.com/our-books/worth-more-growing/

A new generation of old-growth defenders and activist-poets, from kindergarten to grade twelve, express their love and respect for trees.

In Worth More Growing, youth, from kindergarten through grade twelve, share their love and respect for trees. Speaking to our changing climate, this new generation of old-growth defenders express their observations, anger, kinship, hope and sorrow. This unique anthology includes a wide range of voices—Indigenous, settler, immigrant, and even international youth. Worth More Growing is a necessary anthology highlighting the importance of nature to a generation that will experience the ongoing consequences of climate change.

“The wisdom of these young voices made me weep and gave me hope. It’s as if they all know the tree’s roots are their umbilical. With the destruction of a tree, their dreams are destroyed—in fact, this destroys all of us.”

—Louise B. Halfe, Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate

“It’s impossible to look at the miracle of a tree and not be deeply moved. It’s the same with the rich array of writing in Worth More Growing. If you seek out elemental shared creative communication, essential imaginative utterance, and poetry’s pure drop, you’ll find it throughout this quite wonderful anthology.”

—Russell Thornton, father, poet, author of Answer to Blue

“To attend to trees the way children attend to trees. That is the mission, the message, the meaning of this impressive collection of children’s poetry. These poems attest to the love that children have for trees: careful, imaginative, guileless. One child writes: whenever I get close to a tree/ my heart feels more lovely. Another admits: I love trees in a different way than people. Another warns: Before you cut me down/. . . let me tell you . . . /tree frogs cling to my bark. Read this book for the innocence and for the wisdom it contains.”

—Arleen Paré, author of Lake of Two Mountains




Worth More Standing: Poets and Activists Pay Homage to Trees
Edited by Christine Lowther
Caitlin Press, Qualicum Beach, BC. 2022
https://caitlin-press.com/our-books/worth-more-standing/
Cover art by Mark Hobson

Poets, both settler and Indigenous, pay tribute to trees through reflections on the past, connections to the present, and calls for the protection of our future.

Celebrated poets and activists pay homage to the ghosts of lost forests and issue a rallying cry to protect remaining ancient giants and restore uncolonized spaces.

Themes of connection, ecology, grief, and protection are explored through poems about trees and forests written by an impressive number of influential poets, several of whom have attended the recent Fairy Creek blockades and still others who defended old growth ecosystems in Clayoquot Sound 30 years ago.

Contributors include ninth Parliamentary Poet Laureate Louise Bernice Halfe-Sky Dancer, GG winner Arleen Paré, Canadian icon bill bissett, Griffin Poetry Prize winner Eve Joseph, ReLit Award winner Patrick Friesen, Order of Canada and Order of the Rising Sun recipient Joy Kogawa, Vancouver Poet Laureate Fiona Tinwei Lam, Harold Rhenisch, Jay Ruzesky, John Barton, Kate Braid, Kim Trainor, Kim Goldberg, Pamela Porter, Patricia and Terence Young, Russell Thornton, Sonnet L’Abbé, Susan McCaslin, Susan Musgrave, Tom Wayman, Trevor Carolan, Yvonne Blomer, Zoe Dickinson and the late Pat Lowther.
 
 

Born Out of This
Caitlin Press, Qualicum Beach, BC. 2014
cover photo by Vici Johnstone
Born Out of This made the BC Book Prizes Shortlist for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize.
This book is a mixture of autobiography, nature writing, humour, activism and punk. It "follows Christine Lowther’s journey from the unutterable loss of her mother to the discovery of her own poetic voice through deep reflection and her intimate connection to the coastal rainforest."  –49th Shelf's Most Anticipated Fall Non-Fiction Preview list.

Born Out of This is being taught at York University, Faculty of Environmental Studies, BES Program, ENVS 1800.06 Environmental Writing / Writing the Environment, by professor Cate Sandilands.

"Sylvia Plath-like," reviewed Brett Josef Grubisic for The Vancouver Sun. "Canadian rural-dweller Christine Lowther presents a quieter, localized, and deeply introspective persona over the 23 essays of Born Out of This. If a footprint, she’d strive to make the least destructive impression. Even when roving across Europe, the narrating voice feels inward, soft-spoken and finely attuned to the nuance of place."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Writer+essays+elevate+precious+parts+nature/10382425/story.html#ixzz3PwvvKD1O

Chris Fox, in The Malahat Review, says "when 'pure beauty wakes [her] in the morning,' I am reminded of Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek."  http://www.malahatreview.ca/reviews/190reviews_fox.html

“Passion, wonder, humour, courage, gratitude. These are words that come to mind when reading Christine Lowther’s spirited memoir, Born Out of This. While the trauma and grief Lowther has endured are inconceivable, her resilience and strength are very real. In these linked essays a remarkable writer takes her place, not in the shadow of, but alongside her mother, the late poet, Pat Lowther.”    —Patricia Young, author of Summertime Swamp Love

“A cool and colourful look at life, activism and punk, which is really all the same thing, isn’t it?”   
—Joe Keithley of D.O.A.

“Born Out of This is a memoir of savageries and beauties written in a style that is reverent but never precious. Lowther is at home in the natural world — this landscape of disorder — in a way few people are. She lives and writes from the margins with the eye of a naturalist … Through it all, her mother’s spirit is her guide.”      —Eve Joseph, author of In the Slender Margin

“In Born Out of This Christine Lowther partners spirit of place with an exploration of self in a sensitive and celebratory dance of natural beauty and human creativity.”   —Candace Fertile, Room

"...Most poignant is this intergenerational and intertextual dialogue between daughter and mother, which characterizes these essays and Lowther’s own prolific body of work. Her mother-mentor remains a kind of spirit guide in her approach to life and their shared craft as Lowther matures into an identity of her own."   —Erin McMullan, The Goose






Living Artfully: Reflections from the Far West Coast

Co-edited with Anita Sinner.
The Key Publishing House Inc., Toronto. 2012

The extreme west coast is often characterized as the most "out there" edge of Canada and has become known internationally for artists residing in the region and giving it their own particular flavor. Living Artfully: Reflections from the Far West Coast offers unique perspectives and insights to the interrelationship of creativity and geography through intimate portrayals about the lives of artists. Writers, painters, carvers, and performers reflect on the private spaces of the arts - inner worlds and natural environments - and the public spaces for exhibiting, performing and sharing. Artists delve into their life journeys, the struggles and challenges as well as the joys and rewards of pursuing expression out here. Forty-two emerging and established artists have contributed to this collection, including award-winning First Nations playwright and poet Janet Rogers; painter, writer, and arts advocate Robert Amos; internationally noted artists Avis Rasmussen and Mark Hobson; renowned author Susan Musgrave; award-winning film maker Velcrow Ripper; and from the academy, dancer and educator Celeste Snowber, professor emeritus Bill Zuk and many more voices that shape what it means to live artfully on the far west coast.

"...fascinating, sometimes humorous, sometimes reflective, stories of how the creative process occurs not simply within the mind or on the palette but in place. One of the strengths of this collection is that by placing the various perspectives of diverse artists against each other, the heterogeneity of what “art” means and where it comes from is made clear. Tales of social and economic classism, heterosexism, and ageism add layers to the social geography of the coast, showing it to be just as complex as the physical topography of the far west." —Lauren Harding, BC Studies








My Nature 
Leaf Press, Lantzville BC, 2010

"For half the year, Christine Lowther lives on a floathouse in Clayoquot Sound. The other half, she lives on pavement or moves about, restless. Her poems come from the edges of polite society, of the ocean storm, where unexpected things happen, where changes occur; with a foot planted on each side she has become a keen observer, a wise voice." Ursula Vaira, publisher.

"Lovely, touching, and powerful." —Bruce Cockburn

"With scientific precision, Lowther describes the natural world that she knows well...through the origami-like magic of words...(Her) nature is such that she cares."
—Kasia Jaronczyk, Room
 
“… infused with all the activism and alterity of a punk-rock protest poet … a unique and confident voice … clear and uncompromising” The Goose

"... shining poetry. ... This collection is a fine fusion of nature and human nature." —George Elliot Clarke
   
This volume's poem "Good Company" appeared on BC buses. Its poem "Eight storeys high 250 metres down" appears in Canada’s Raincoast at Risk: Art for an Oil-Free Coast.






Half-Blood Poems
Inspired by the stories of J.K. Rowling
Zossima Press, Connecticut. 2011
"Christine Lowther is a previously published writer and a talented poet who explores the similarities of the Harry Potter books with the personal trauma of her own youth. The poems with this premise could have been a dark read but she avoids this in part by using the natural world that is all around her ... this force is the magic that is transformative both for her and Harry. She also has an understanding of the Potter books that is deep... This brings a certain weight of myth into the poems, myths that are carried into the everyday world where the characters become alive, lean close and whisper words of advice and caution. This book is a brave and accomplished achievement."  —reader review on Amazon page by marmont

"The Searing Similarities between Harry Potter's life and the author's are uncanny. She explores her own beginnings and his, facing horror and tragedy while treating us to humour and character study at the same time."  —reader review on Amazon page by knitgrl

"Perhaps this unpretentious and down-to-earth anthology could awaken a love of poetry in the Potter generation? Poetry is often a forgotten art, but the familiar subject matter of Half-Blood Poems may be refreshing for adults and children alike. ... 'Longbottom Leaf' and 'Neville, Unlikely Rebel' make me love the character even more than before. 'Longbottom Leaf', a snapshot of Neville's life as a professor, shows his modesty and unfailing kindness, and gives us Neville's side of the story from a fresh perspective. Half-Blood Poems is an enjoyable read, whether just for a couple of short poems, or for the whole cover-to-cover experience."  —from review by Hannah Griffiths on fansite The Time Turner

Also reviewed by Megan Barrow on Magical Managerie fansite, by Sheila Vieira on Potterish fansite, Brazil, and by Corentin Faniel on La Gazette du Sorcier's Blog de la Gazette, France. 

From the publisher:
J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books are classics of modern fantasy literature which have moved millions of readers with themes that reach to the depths of human existence – the fact of death, the threat of evil, and the power of love and friendship. It is no wonder these epic themes attracted a poet like Christine Lowther. Harry Potter’s losses and struggles have an uncanny resemblance to episodes from her own life which she calls the twelve “Searing Similarities” (detailed in the book’s preface). But like Harry, Christine’s poetry can also soar above the tragic to discover the heroic and beautiful in such poems as “Neville, Unlikely Rebel,” “For Our Wide-Armed Mothers,” and “A Boy’s Hands.” There are seventy-one Half-Blood Poems divided into seven chapters that correspond with the seven book series. Fans of the wizarding world will experience again many of the emotions they felt reading the novels  – emotions presented most effectively through a poet’s words. 




New Power was Christine's first book of poems.
Broken Jaw Press, Fredericton NB. 1999.

“[H]eartbreaking, necessary book. The first eyewitness account of the country’s greatest literary tragedy ...” —Quill & Quire
 
“[B]rave, sad and eloquent”
The Islander/Victoria Times-Colonist

"An astonishing collection of heartbreaking force."
—George Elliott Clarke 
 

“To be invited to enter her intimate life, to share the truth of her personal experiences, to see the details of a young activist’s day by day struggles and delights is no small privilege. Christine takes us into the forest, into the magic and the songs of resistance and the moment by moment journey of those who care enough to live their hope. Here is a brave young writer pointing in a direction of sanity.”
—Joy Kogawa



Writing the West Coast: In Love with Place

Co-edited with Anita Sinner.  Ronsdale Press, Vancouver. 2008


"With its collective, eco-consciousness coupled with contributions from First Nations writers, Writing the West Coast is a coherent anthology that reverberates with a sense of history and pride."  -BC Bookworld

The beautiful cover painting of Tofino's 800-year-old "Eik" Cedar is by artist and author Joanna Streetly. This collection of over thirty essays by both well-known and emerging writers explores what it means to “be at home” on Canada’s west coast. Here the rainforest and the wild, stormy shoreline dominate one’s sense of identity, a humbling perspective shared in memoirs by individuals who come to see themselves as part of a larger ecological community.

Alexandra Morton followed orcas to the Broughton Archipelago and now fights to protect wild salmon from the impact of fish farms. Grandmother-activist Betty Krawczyk describes living in a remote A-frame under mountains that have been clearcut, and how this led her to join the blockades. Valerie Langer tells us of a tsunami warning, one that is both literal and metaphorical. Brian Brett reflects on possible futures for Clayoquot Sound, thinking back to the wild times he spent there in the sixties.

Writing the West Coast includes a number of brightly satiric commentators like Briony Penn, who compares sex in the city to love in the temperate rainforest, Andrew Struthers, who recalls squatting in a home-made pyramid in the bush, and Susan Musgrave, who writes with affection and humour about the “excluded” Haida Gwaii. Young First Nation writers Eli Enns and Nadine Crookes provide their perspective of deep rootedness in place. And there are many more contributors, all of whom are engaged in finding purpose along with a sense of belonging that is uniquely west coast.

“Here is an intimate look into life on the farthest West Coast of Canada among those, who in their various ways, are filled with passion for its waterways, its forests, its wildlife, even its weather. I found Writing the West Coast fascinating.”
— Sharon Butala

“... [A]n evocative collection of stories that demands an intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual awareness of the environment in which we live.”
Canadian Literature

“A marvelous collection of 33 essays by top writers covering the full spectrum of the delights of the Canadian West Coast.”
Lower Island News


Collections in which Christine has work:



Sweet Water

Poems for the Watersheds

Edited by Yvonne Blomer

Sweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds gathers the voices of poets from across Canada, the US and the UK who write of water.  Bottled, clouded, held in rain, in river, estuary and lake, sweet water is the planet’s life force and the poets here examine it from every angle – the pitcher plant, the beaver and the American Bull Frog, rain, clouds, smog, the many ducks and the salmon and the last lake sturgeon. Poets take us to the rivers they live along – and grieve daily – the Peace River Canyon, Chilcotin, Taylor River, the Humber River, Millstone River, the Fraser River, and more.

In Canada, the watershed runs into the Pacific, Arctic, Hudson Bay and the Atlantic. This water houses the aquatic ecosystems that feed and nurture not only the people, industries and animals on land but also drains into the world’s oceans. It is part of the hydrologic cycle that begins with water evaporation to become groundwater that seeps into rivers, streams, lakes and oceans. It is the water we bathe in, drink, and with which we grow our food. As it becomes more and more poisoned from industrial corporations, mining and the many, too many humans on our planet, it also becomes more and more endangered. We are paying attention. We are aware of the watershed moment that we inhabit in the twenty-first century. We know that change must come.

Contributors include Kate Braid, Gary Barwin, Katherena Vermette, Arleen Paré, John Pass, Ariel Gordon, Brian Brett, Rita Wong, Fred Wah, Trevor Carolan, John Terpstra, Russell Thornton, Zoë Landale, Christine Lowther, Elena Johnson, Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Daniela Elza, Rhonda Ganz, Geoffrey Nilson, Pamela Porter, Barbara Pelman, Kelly Shepherd, Rob Taylor, Zachariah Wells, Bren Simmers, and more.





Refugium

Poems for the Pacific

Edited by Yvonne Blomer

While in the world of politics there are still climate change deniers, the poets watch the warming seas, the dying birds slicked in oil, the whales, the jellies, the sea otters and the octopus. They stand, as close to the shore as possible, watch the slow turning tide. In this collection of poems from the coast of B.C., California, Washington State, to Alaska and as far away as Auckland, New Zealand and as far back as early 19th century Japan these poems explore our connection to the Pacific, what we know and don’t know, how we’ve already changed the shore and the sea and what we fear losing.

Poets in this anthology include John Barton, Brian Brett, Bruce Cockburn, Lorna Crozier, Brenda Hillman, Gary Geddes, Steven Heighton, Patrick Lane, Arleen Paré, Melanie Siebert, Anne Simpson, Rob Taylor, Patricia Young, Jan Zwicky and many more.

In Refugium, editor Yvonne Blomer explores her deep concern with our sixth extinction and how stoic humans are continuing to wreak damage on the planet and her oceans.



Locations of Grief: An Emotional Geography

Edited by Catherine Owen

Contributions by Alice MajorKatherine BitneyAlice BurdickMarilyn DumontBen GallagherCatherine GreenwoodJane Eaton HamiltonRichard HarrisonDavid HaskinsSteven HeightonTheresa KishkanChristine LowtherCanisia LubrinJames PicardNikki ReimerWaubgeshig RiceLisa RichterLynn TaitSharon ThesenOnjana Yawnghwe, and Daniel Zomparelli

Exploring the landscapes of death and grief, this collection takes the reader through a series of essays, drawn together from twenty-four Canadian writers that reach across different ages, ethnicities and gender identities as they share their thoughts, struggles and journeys relating to death. Be it the meditation on the loss of a beloved dog who once solaced a departed parent, the tragic suicide of a stranger or the deep pain of losing a brother, Locations of Grief is defined by its range of essays exploring all the facets of mourning, and how the places in our lives can be irreversibly changed by the lingering presence of death.



Rising Tides

Reflections for Climate Changing Times

Edited by Catriona Sandilands

Ice melt; sea level rise; catastrophic weather; flooding; drought; fire; infestation; species extinction and adaptation; water shortage and contamination; intensified social inequity, migration and cultural collapse. These are but some of the changes that are not only predicted for climate changing futures, but already part of our lives in Canada. Although these transformations are global and dramatic, they are also experienced locally and particularly by people who are struggling to understand the impacts of climate change on their daily lives.

Rising Tides is a collection of short fiction, creative non-fiction, memoir and poetry addressing the past, present and future of climate change. Bringing stories about climate changeboth catastrophic and subtlecloser to home, this new anthology inspires reflection, understanding, conversation and action. With more than forty purposefully written pieces, Rising Tides emphasizes the need for intimate stories and thoughtful attention, and also for a view of climate justice that is grounded in ongoing histories of colonialism and other forms of environmental and social devastation.These stories parallel the critical issues facing the planet, and imagine equitable responses for all Canadians, moving beyond denial and apocalypse and toward shared meaning and action.

Contributors to the anthology include established writers, climate change experts from different backgrounds and front-line activists: Carleigh Baker, Stephen Collis, Ashlee Cunsolo, Ann Eriksson, Rosemary Georgeson, Hiromi Goto, Laurie D. Graham, David Huebert, Sonnet L’Abbé, Timothy Leduc, Christine Lowther, Kyo Maclear, Emily McGiffin, Deborah McGregor, Philip Kevin Paul, Richard Pickard, Holly Schofield, Betsy Warland, Evelyn White, Rita Wong and many more.



The Summer Book edited by Mona Fertig

Focusing on the joys of summer, The Summer Book features new creative non-fiction by twenty-four exceptional and award-winning British Columbian writers: warm and wonderful tales, meditations on nature, memories, humour and seasonal anticipations. The Summer Book– a refreshing collection readers can relax and dip into, anytime of year. A small positive treasure in this complex crazy century.

Contributions by Luanne Armstrong, Kate Braid, Brian Brett, Anne Cameron, Trevor Carolan, Claudia Cornwall, Daniela Elza, Carla Funk, Jane Hamilton, Eve Jospeh, Des Kennedy, Theresa Kishkan, Chelene Knight, Fiona Lam, Grant Lawrence, J.J. Lee, Sarah De Leeuw, Peter Levitt, Christine Lowther, Pearl Luke, Susan McCaslin, Briony Penn, D.C. Reid, and Harold Rhenisch. Drawings by Gary Sim, Peter Haase, and Briony Penn.



CANADIAN GINGER An Anthology of Poetry & Prose by and about REDHEADS

Edited by Kim Clark and Dawn Marie Kresan

From strawberry blonde to carrot-top to deep auburn, the work in Canadian Ginger explores the meaning, myths, and stereotypes of being a ginger. Red hair is considered a genetic mutation, with only 2% of the world’s population born with it. Historically, prized as slaves or burned at the stake, the uniqueness of redheads made them both seductress and scapegoat. In the twentieth-century red hair is more desirable and less rare, due to hair dyes and henna treatments, but the labels “unpredictable” and “hot-tempered” remain. This unconventional and fun anthology brings together poems, short stories, essays, and drama excerpts from writers across Canada to tell the comical, powerful, tender, sexy, and sometimes tragic tales about their ginger tresses.

• Margaret Atwood • Aidan Chafe • Carolyn Clink • Anita Dolman • David Fraser • Maureen Foss • Kim Goldberg • Heather Haley • Carla Hartsfield • Tracy Hamon • Penn Kemp • Kateri Lanthier • Joanne Levy • Winona Linn • Christine Lowther • Bruce Meyer • Rebecca Pǎpucaru • Charlie Petch • Rachael Preston • Heather Spears • Diane Tucker • Jordan Watkins •  Lizzie Violet • Darryl Whetter • Jennifer Zilm

  
  

Where the Nights Are Twice as Long: Love Letters of Canadian Poets

edited by David Eso and Jeanette Lynes.

At times beautiful, at times rueful, Where the Nights Are Twice as Long is a collection of letters written by Canadian poets to those they loved. The result is a diverse portrait of the life cycle of a romantic relationship, from first infatuation to I-still-can't-forget-you melancholy. The book is divided into sections based on the poets' age at the time of writing the love letters, from teens and twenties right up to sixties, seventies and beyond. Includes pieces from Louis Riel, Pauline Johnson, Irving Layton, Di Brandt, Leonard Cohen and more. This is the first time a book has contained both Christine's work and her mother's.







In the Company of Animals: Stories of Extraordinary Encounters
Edited by Pam Chamberlain.
Animals fascinate us. Whether we view them as friends, workmates, symbols, totems, or food, animals matter to us, and we want to tell their stories.
In this collection, thirty-seven writers from across Canada tell thought-provoking stories of extraordinary encounters with a variety of animals—from rats and salamanders to wolves and bears. From tributes to a favourite cat or dog to tales of a chance encounter with a moose or a cougar, these stories are sure to entertain and enlighten. The writers are people who spend time in the company of animals, paying close attention to them and their natures, and the lessons they can teach us.
In the Company of Animals features stories from well-known Canadian authors including Farley Mowat, Richard Wagamese, David Weale, Linda Johns, Anny Scoones, and David Adams Richards, Jacqueline Windh and many others. Christine's chapter is about a certain harbour seal ...







Canada’s Raincoast at Risk: Art for an Oil-Free Coast

Foreword: David Suzuki; Afterword: Wade Davis; overall slavemaster: Mark Hobson. The 160-page book is now in its second printing and highlights the art pieces, most of which are originals, from 50 incredible Canadian and Indigenous artists like Robert Bateman, Robert Davidson, Craig Benson, Carol Evans, Lissa Calvert and Roy Henry Vickers. The art is featured with writings, including Christine's poem "Eight Storeys High 250 Metres Down". All works are grouped into one of nine chapters that cover the region, the people, sea birds, land mammals, marine mammals, forests, estuaries, salmon, and the underwater marine life of Canada’s raincoast, including the Queen Charlotte Basin and the Great Bear Rainforest. A gorgeous coffee-table hardcover published by the Raincoast Conservation Foundation - buying one helps the cause.











Force Field – 77 Women Poets of BC
Edited by Susan Musgrave
Published by Mother Tongue Publishing, Salt Spring Island BC

77 POETS:
Maleea Acker, Joanne Arnott, Elizabeth Bachinsky, Jacqueline Baldwin, Michelle Barker, Rhonda Batchelor, Yvonne Blomer, Leanne Boschman, Fran Bourassa, Marilyn Bowering, Kate Braid, Connie Braun, Margo Button, Anne Cameron, Marlene Cookshaw, Judith Copithorne, Susan Cormier, Lorna Crozier, Jen Currin, Daniela Elza, Cathy Ford, Carla Funk, Maxine Gadd, Rhonda Ganz, Elee Kraljii Gardiner, Heidi Garnett, Lakshmi Gill, Kim Goldberg, Alisa Gordaneer, Heidi Greco, Heather Haley, Diana Hartog, Diana Hayes, Joelene Heathcote, Karen Hofmann, Leah Horlick, Aislinn Hunter, Gillian Jerome, Elena E. Johnson, Eve Joseph, Donna Kane, Sonnet L’Abbe, Larissa Lai, Fiona Tinwei Lam, Zoe Landale, Evelyn Lau, Julia Leggett, Angela Long, Christine Lowther, Sandra Lynn Lynxleg, Rhona McAdam, Susan McCaslin, Hannah Main-van der Kamp, Daphne Marlatt, Jessica Michalofsky, Jane Munro, Catherine Owen, Shauna Paull, Miranda Pearson, Meredith Quartermain, Rebekah Rempel, Linda Rogers, Rachel Rose, Laisha Rosnau, Renee Sarojini Saklikar, Sandy Shreve, Melanie Siebert, Susan Stenson, Cathy Stonehouse, Sharon Thesen, Ursula Vaira, Betsy Warland, Gillian Wigmore, Rita Wong, Onjana Yawnghwe, Patricia Young, Jan Zwicky.

 


Make It True: Poetry from Cascadia

Edited by Paul Nelson
with George Stanley, Barry McKinnon and Nadine Maestas 

Make It True is a collection from poets writing from Cascadia, the bioregion lying west of the continental divide and spanning from Mt. Logan in Canada to the north and Cape Mendocino in California to the south. An attempt to deepen the sense of place. A call to inhabit it as if our lives and livelihoods depended on it. An attempt to resuscitate the poetry culture from the trance cast by the pop/consumer/industry-generated culture—an anti-culture which, as Edward Abbey understood, serves to consume everything, including the biosphere: "Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.


Walk Myself Home

An Anthology to End Violence Against Women
edited by Andrea Routley
Shortlisted: Monday Magazine's M Award for Best Non-Fiction (2011)
Favourably reviewed in Prairie Fire and endorsed by Bitch magazine!
There is an epidemic of violence against women in Canada and the world. For many women physical and sexual assault, or the threat of such violence, is a daily reality. Walk Myself Home is an anthology of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and oral interviews on the subject of violence against women including contributions by Kate Braid, Yasuko Thanh and Susan Musgrave. Christine's poem "Lighten Up" appears.
The poetry in this collection should not be missed.” –Bitchmedia website



RISKING FOR CHANGE
Stories of Ordinary People
Compiled & Edited by Kate Penner

This anthology explores of issue of acting out of conscience: the common light among those who seek peace, and social and environmental justice. The stories and poems presented here step physically, emotionally, spiritually and structurally across critical boundaries to speak out of moral conviction....

 




Wild Moments: Adventures with Animals of the North

In this anthology edited by Michael Engelhard, Christine's chapter is called "A Cure for Despair".

"Wild Moments presents some of the best and most innovative nonfiction writing in an environmental context, and it will be of interest to all readers with a passion and concern for the natural world."