This Is the Nightmare

This is the Nightmare
By Adrienne Gruber
Published by Thistledown Press
Reviewed by Carrie Prefontaine
$12.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-52-2

Adrienne Gruber’s “This is the Nightmare” is a collection of deeply reflective poems that will appeal to anyone seeking to understand the complexities of love and language.

“I don’t pick up foreign languages well,” the poet laments in “Dead Language,” and this is a theme carried throughout “Limbo,” the first section of the volume. Whether the poet is speaking a “jumbled commentary on who we never were” in “Our Frantic Language,” or reading the “Tabloid Poems” that “scald a pink fleshy tongue,” words themselves are suspect. In these poems, language is most meaningful when it manifests through the physical. In “How I Find You,” for example, emotional pain is written vividly all over the subject’s face: “You have the face of a Japanese bowl, / charred raw strokes of paint along your cheekbones, / plump and full, designed with clear intent, / your jaw tight, and pouring / out of you, something cold.”

The poems in section two, “This is the Nightmare” explore grief, carrying forward the complex search for connection, sense of self, and meaningful language. “[G]rief is a kind of dream you walk through” claims the poet, and the poems in this section are steeped in loss: for lost loves, for missed opportunities, and for failed attempts at understanding one another. Gruber’s vivid lyricism makes each poem a heart punch.

The deep sense of mourning also shrouds the poems in the third and final section, “Why I Can’t Let Anything Go.” The poetry in this section explores the most familiar and intimate and yet most difficult to navigate bonds: those of family. “My childhood house is diseased. A single lung / that sways, tries to breathe, but can’t fill with air” asserts the narrator of “You’re Not Crazy, You Have a Ghost.” These poems are indeed haunted, haunted by painful memories of complicated relationships, of words spoken and left unspoken, of actions taken and not taken. Why can’t we let anything go, these poems ask, and their resounding answer is that the things that haunt us are the very things that make us who we are.

“This is The Nightmare” explores the illusions we hold about those we love, or would like to love, or have loved and lost. The fresh and crystalline imagery calls into question the effectiveness of language to convey what we really mean, while simultaneously affirming the power of words in the hands of a skilled wordsmith. Above all else, and without becoming pretentious, the poems offer a new perspective on the nature of our relationships with ourselves and with each other.

This book is available at your local bookstore, or visit www.skbooks.com.

Published in:  on 3 February 2010 at 12:08 pm Leave a Comment
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correction line

“correction line”
by Dennis Cooley
Published by Thistledown Press
Reviewed by Kelly-Anne Riess
$15.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-50-8

Dennis Cooley’s long poem correction line is both touching and poignant, recreating memory and the prairie landscape.

Cooley shows his many talents, as his work is vernacular, funny, anecdotal and personal, touching on his own family history.

“correction line” plays with ideas around creation and how things, like poetry, are produced. For instance he writes in response to his surrounding geography, but also from what he’s learned studying others’ poetry and literary theory over the last 30 years or so.

A correction line is a device used to compensate for the curve of longitude. And Cooley’s book follows the line between his beginnings in Estevan, Saskatchewan to his current home of Winnipeg. It also traces a poetic line to American poet Charles Olson, writing:

/an O pening
of the field/

At the beginning of the book, Cooley almost quotes Eli Mandel’s poem “Life Sentence” in its entirety.

Mandel was the first poet from Estevan, and now Cooley is the second.

Cooley’s words are more than semantic, as he uses them for visual effect. On one page, for example, the words physically create the appearance of a farmer’s field.

His lines do double duty, pivoting meaning and bringing surprise.

“correction line” is one of Cooley’s best.

This book is available at your local bookstore or visit www.skbooks.com.

Published in:  on 25 November 2009 at 3:40 pm Leave a Comment
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No Apologies for the Weather

No Apologies for the Weather
by Taylor Leedahl
Published by Thistledown Press
Reviewed by Carrie Prefontaine
$12.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-51-5

No Apologies for the Weather is Saskatoon poet Taylor Leedahl’s bold poetic debut. Tracing the poet’s movement into maturity, the volume confidently and intricately explores identity, sexuality, and intimacy. Saturated with a wisdom beyond the poet’s years, the poetry also retains the sparkle, vigour, and occasionally, idealism, of her adolescence.

Many of the poems are firmly rooted in places that will be familiar to Saskatoon readers, reminding us how strongly our experience of place shapes our sense of self. In the poem “Out Here I Declare Myself,” for example, prairie bluffs provide an appropriate backdrop for the poet’s struggle to define herself: “Out here I declare myself / And reap entertainment from birch trees. / Slender knobby knees, paper peels / to reveal another layer / of the same flaking skin. / If only a piece of me had these qualities…” Leedahl has an eye for detail and she paints those details into multi-layered, melodious poems.

Indeed, Leedahl’s poetry is coloured by music and her wordplay is brightly lyrical. Poems such as “A Personal Revolution on Your Skin,” “Ocean in Autumn Leaves,” and “This is the Calming” deserve to be read aloud in order to fully experience their full artistry.

Leedhal’s poetry is not just for the ear or the eye. It is deeply sensual, as in the poem “Boyfriend Box,” which explores the indelible link between scent and memory: “Strawberry car freshener / fighting to mask hockey equipment stench; / the rink smell that became an aphrodisiac.” In these poems, “wind wraps [at] ankles,” alarm clocks measure the moments of life in ticks of the second hand, saying you-will-ne-ver-re-vis-it-this-sec-ond-again, and “[l]ungs are purest” in the cold air of the snow-blanketed prairie.

No apologies for the weather are necessary after the sensual delights of this poetry.

This book is available at your local bookstore or visit www.skbooks.com.

Published in:  on 7 October 2009 at 10:54 am Leave a Comment
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Something to Hang On To

“Something to Hang On To”
By Beverly Brenna
Published by Thistledown Press
Review by Judith Silverthorne
Price $12.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-57-7

Beverley Brenna’s new collection of short stories for teens is poignant and powerful. Each one is told in a clear, positive and simple way, so that “Something to Hang On To” will appeal to many readers. Her characters are both quirky and honest as they go through tough times. They all seem to overcome their obstacles by capturing lasting resolutions from within.

Sometimes the stories are based on real life incidents and sometimes they are slightly autobiographical. Often they provide insights into a variety of serious life issues, such as loss, family violence, autism, Down’s Syndrome, or marginalization. She explores these adversities from a variety of angles. There are also some that are more-light hearted stories like the one about getting a toe caught in a vacuum cleaner, or another about parachuting from a plane for the first time.

The award-winning author uses both first person and third person narrations in this compelling collection. As an added feature, there’s also an intriguing one-act play. This is her first and it’s an existential one, which captures the absurd, echoing sentiments many teens will identify with. They also offer effective problem solving to overcome the seemingly impossible.

Although these stories were written over a span of twenty years, their themes and issues are relevant in today’s world, and will continue to be into the future. Filled with pathos and zany humour, there is also warmth and immediacy as the reader is drawn into the lives of the characters. Whether about a boogie-boarding Australian, a young gifted Cree girl, a young boy with autism, or someone longing for acceptance, all have important messages about courage and finding your way. Sometimes distressing and sometimes tender, all touch the reader, underlining the belief that when things get tough, ‘we all need something to hang on to.’

The characters in this book provide encouraging examples for all teens to look within for resolve and to reach out to others in need. They are also a great read for anyone!

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR VISIT WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Published in:  on 16 September 2009 at 12:34 pm Leave a Comment
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Tuckahoe Slidebottle

“Tuckahoe Slidebottle”
by Neil McKinnon
Published by Thistledown Press
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$18.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-07-02

“The town itself is homeless. It lies on the prairie like a drunk on a sidewalk.”

The town is Tuckahoe, a fictional SK community invented by gifted writer Neil McKinnon, and on the strength of these first two sentences, I knew I was going to enjoy his short fiction collection “Tuckahoe Slidebottle”. McKinnon renders a cast of characters simultaneously outrageous and credible; if Tuckahoe were on a map, readers would be flocking there.

I can’t help thinking that the writer wore a smile while penning most of these twenty stories. First, let’s look at the town itself. Tuckahoe’s a place where “Dried potholes slam your teeth as you drive.” There’s the inevitable coffee row, called “The Jury” (“five or six tobacco chewers and sunflower-seed-spitters who met every day to pass judgement on the private lives of others”). And there are wild characters like one-eyed Old Alex, who took off his black eye patch Saturdays and “used a silver dollar to cover the hole where his left eye was supposed to be,” because he believed in dressing up on Saturday nights.

Reverend Davies is the minister at Tuckahoe’s Singing Evangelist Holy Gospel Church; his young wife Abigail is anything but devout. The teen narrator of “Going Blind in Tuckahoe” says: “When she crossed her legs her skirt hiked up until I could see the tops of her nylons. It got me going so much I couldn’t get up when the service was over.”

Constable Dave is the town’s cop three days a week. “The other days he pumps gas down at Mac’s Garage. The town hasn’t got around to buying him a uniform, so he puts on his gas jockey outfit for both jobs.”

It’s impossible not to adore these characters and envy the author’s talent. McKinnon could publish a book of his similes alone: “Keeping something private was like using your hands to scoop water into a hot radiator,” he writes. One character “spoke slow and deliberate, like someone trying to explain nuclear physics to a group of morons,” and stranger Morton Goldsak “strode onto Main Street, walking boldly in well-shined shoes like a banker on a mission of foreclosure.” The man had “a stook of red hair that stood straight up and waved in the breeze like a nervous campfire.”

Outlandish business schemes are common in Tuckahoe. Goldsak, a down-on-his-luck gambler, arrives to start a newspaper, “The Tuckahoe Wind Breaker.” (Ha!) One local eccentric “invested all his money in a scheme to crossbreed a mink and a kangaroo so as to produce a fur coat with pockets.”

The first four stories are narrated by “Obbie” Robertson, whose AWOL cousin stirs up trouble with other men’s wives. Many of these stories concern love, but romance in Tuckahoe might just involve “[holding] the barbed wire for each other.” Time and again, McKinnon’s characters demonstrate that love is “elegant in dreams but awkward in practice.”

This book’s difficult to put down, easy to recommend. You will laugh out loud.

Published in:  on 2 September 2009 at 11:33 am Leave a Comment
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The Serpent’s Veil

“The Serpent’s Veil”
By Maggi Feehan
Published by Thistledown Press
Review by Judith Silverthorne
Price $18.95
ISBN 978-1-897235-56-0

Constance Stubbington wakes up in a hospital in London, England in 1899 after being thrown from a horse. The severe implications of her medical condition are withheld from her, as are the whereabouts of her father. In fact, she doesn’t recall much of her life at first, though there seem to be hints that she has spent some of her time in India during the time of colonialism. So begins Maggi Feehan’s intriguing first novel, “The Serpent’s Veil.”

As this tale unfolds, Constance experiences a series of flashbacks and dreams. She sometimes shares these with Ank Maguire, her Irish surgeon’s assistant, whom she comes to trust. They also discover they share a spiritual connection that sometimes gives them positive insights and sometimes seems to cause problems. Constance has especially strong intuitions, which help her unravel ten years of her personal journey as she pieces her life together while still in hospital.

They both have former lives and family traditions that haunt them. As they come to terms with these, they find that entering the world of intuition help transform them. This also brings the pair closer together in an unexpected way.

This novel is a memorable one, which alternates chapters between the two main characters. Their individual stories bring more depth and a multifaceted understanding as to why and how the pair is drawn to one another. The author also weaves the background of each character’s story with historic details that are spellbinding and informative. Personal perceptions captivate the reader as they are led through the impact of the birth and death of family members, and finding their own reasons for living.

“The Serpent’s Veil” explores everyday lives of the characters before and after they meet, and how sharing mystical revelations alters their consciousness and lives forever. Maggi Feehan’s powerful writing provides a satisfying tale.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR VISIT WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Published in:  on 12 August 2009 at 11:53 am Leave a Comment
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Return to Bone Tree Hill

“Return to Bone Tree Hill”
By Kristin Butcher
Published by Thistledown Books
Review by Marie Powell Mendenhall
Price: $ 12.95 CDN ISBN: 1-897235-58-4

This young adult mystery opens with Jessica Lawler’s recurring nightmare: she is 12 years old again, and she can see her friends Charlie and Amanda fighting.

Charlie is shaking Amanda and he won’t let go. Jessica picks up Charlie’s shovel and swings it. Then Charlie is lying on the ground, his hair matted with blood…

At 18, Jessica returns from Australia to visit her grandmother in Victoria, BC, where she grew up. She discovers Charlie went missing on the same day she contracted meningitis. With her memories clouded by illness, Jessica has to wonder: Is the dream true? Did she kill him?

With the help of her best friend Jilly, Jessica pieces together the puzzle of Charlie’s disappearance. The bantering friendship between the two girls and the lingering guilt that drives Jessica are believable and well-developed.

Twists and turns lead the story in several unexpected directions. Symbols like the tree and that well-known Canadian icon, the snow globe, also play a role. Following hunches and clues, the girls uncover community secrets along with Jessica’s memories.

Kristen Butcher unravels the mystery with a writing style that brings out the nightmare atmosphere and draws the reader into the action. For example, she describes the tree with its “branches splayed like outstretched fingers, holding the surrounding countryside close” amid the “sun-bleached stalks of rye grass waving their long spears like vigilant sentries.”

Butcher was born in Winnipeg, and now lives in Campbell River, BC. The former teacher has written 14 books.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR VISIT WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Published in:  on 15 July 2009 at 4:23 pm Leave a Comment
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Terminal Moraine


“Terminal Moraine”
Written by Ian LeTourneau
Published by Thistledown Press
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$12.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-53-9

In 2008, Thistledown Press celebrated the release of its 10th New Leaf Editions Series of poetry books by first-time authors, and what a celebration it was. At the launch — arguably among SK’s top literary events of the year — one of four poets on stage was Ian LeTourneau, a former Maritimer now living in Athabasca AB. With new book in hand, LeTourneau transported listeners with the unique music only a finely-tuned poem can make.

“Terminal Moraine” is a landmark book. It entertains and ferries readers to the “otherworld” poetry inhabits, but it could also be well-used in writing workshops, as LeTourneau’s poems have much to teach us. Reversals (ie: the tide, time, memory), renewals, and re-ordering predominate, but within these themes there exists great diversity in subject, tone, and form.

Aside from the free verse favoured by many contemporary poets, LeTourneau also incorporates sonnets, odes (ie: “Fireplace” and “Bicycle”), a paradelle, a triolet, and couplets. There are translations (from the French); poems inspired by other poets; by photographs; music; landscapes; family; and friends. More specifically, the found poem, “Wind Farm,” credits the “‘Canadian Wind Energy Association’ pamphlet” as a source. I love this. It demonstrates how poetry exists all around us; we need only be open to it.

Nature is integral in this work. Birds, bison, bear, squid, and muskox are at home among poems of place and personal philosophies. Look at the way this poet sees: in “A Cubist View of the Saint John River,” he writes of the river as “a factory of ice”. The poem “Ordinary Day at the Beach” — both about and not about barnacles — delivers “the shells in my hands like new words,\half-submerged in new meaning.” And in “Turtle”: “There is no place for us to retreat\except to the sea of ideas, and daily\the mind is trawling up more and more turtles”. Single images – “A sail pregnant with wind,” sky as “a nursery\of stars” — and sounds — “Gravel crunches like candles” – reveal that this young poet has a seasoned eye and ear.

I also admire the juxtapositions. In “Unidentified Birds,” the poet writes of black and white warblers: “They constantly escape\the two rings of my binoculars’ vision.\Like those nephews or nieces who fidget\out of photographs at weddings\or family reunions, they’re beyond my control.” A bowl of blueberries and ice cream becomes “Mountains\with a setting sun” and “decomposing butterflies.”

Jewels in this collection include “Silver,” and “Sleep,” two poems that in very few lines capture a simple grace; and “Kinds of Apple #9 (Golden Delicious),” which, like other pieces in this collection, is almost “painterly”.

There is a great deal to delight in here, from delicious words (ie: “supernovae,” “armamentarium,” “travertine,” “inglenook,” “proboscis,” and “velocopedes”) to thoughtful meditations on what it is to be human, and to bring another human – the poet is a relatively new father – into the “journey.” Broad, intelligent, resonant … LeTourneau’s “Terminal Moraine” and Thistledown Press prove that literary publishing in Saskatchewan is alive, well, and undeniably worthwhile.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM THE SASKATCHEWAN PUBLISHERS GROUP WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Published in:  on 10 June 2009 at 3:05 pm Leave a Comment
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Off/Side

Off/Side Cover“Offside”
By Cathy Beveridge
Published by Thistledown Press
Review by Karen Lawson
ISBN 1894345258

“Offside” is a fast moving novel that is geared to young adolescents. Calgary writer, Cathy Beveridge, has a keen understanding of her target audience. She uses this insight to enter the world of amateur hockey and examine the various issues that are part of Canada’s favourite game.

Although “Offside” is a work of fiction, it is actually based on real events that happened in the hockey world. The main character is Joel, who is grappling with growing up and facing the concerns and problems that most teenagers face. The reader watches as Joel tries to be part of a winning team and gain the acceptance of his peers. However, he soon realizes that he must follow his conscience and do the right thing.

This story is relevant because it deals with the complications of adolescence and the trials and tribulations of growing up in today’s competitive society. The author uses subtle humour to delve into the serious consequences of drug dependency in amateur sports.

Initially, “Offside” seems to be a light hearted novel. But it quickly becomes apparent that there are deeper issues that provide the meat and substance to the story which add a serious component to the plot. The author uses other contemporary topics that are intertwined in the novel, such as peer pressure, depression, and the complexity of family relationships.

This is a book that young boys will easily relate to. Full of puck chasing action, it focuses on the underbelly of amateur sports. “Offside” also looks at how the desire and pressure to win take Joel on a journey that he never expected.

‘THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR VISIT WWW.SKBOOKS.COM”

Published in:  on 11 March 2009 at 1:25 pm Leave a Comment
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Cheating Fate


“Cheating Fate”
By Audrey Pfitzenmaier
Published by Thistledown Press
Review by Judith Silverthorne
Price $12.95 ISBN 978-1-897235-41-6

Gripping from the outset, “Cheating Fate” is a young adult novel that will be remembered long after it’s read. Audrey Pfitzenmaier skilfully weaves together the intertwining stories of the four main characters, who have been best friends since early childhood. Now teenagers, they remain closely bound, but a
serious accident and the resulting shared near death experience shakes their lives. They come to believe that their destinies are tied and that they will die together at some unknown time. Their solution is to separate into pairs in the hopes of cheating fate.

Through an intriguing premise and great character development, we come to know these four teens as if they were people we knew. Each has a distinctive background and each handles their reluctance to tempt fate in a different way and on their own terms, as they struggle with everyday problems of growing up.

Over time, the three boys come to believe they are invincible. The only girl in the group worries about the way their recklessness increases. The flaws of their decision to split become glaringly apparent as all their lives seem to spiral out of control at the same time. Their vulnerability in being apart makes them realize that life without each other not worth living. They must decide whether to expose themselves to the fate they fear will take them if they remain together or accept being forever apart. Or has their reasoning been faulty all along?

“Cheating Fate” is storytelling at its finest, with a conclusion that satisfies, yet leaves one thoughtful about these characters long after the book has ended.

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR VISIT WWW.SKBOOKS.COM

Published in:  on 9 February 2009 at 4:39 pm Leave a Comment
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