Crossing the Salt Flats is Christopher Wiseman’s eighth book of poetry. Earlier volumes such as Postcards Home and Remembering Mr. Fox won him awards and spreading recognition. The poems in Crossing the Salt Flats expand on his visual themes -- memories of childhood laced with vivid detail, journeys, the historical past recreated and imagined.
Christopher Wiseman’s poetry moves widely across time and place, searching out delight, horror, sadness, joy, love and loss. In these wonderfully crafted poems we meet a fine array of characters ranging from a disgruntled 18th-century Duchess, the inhabitants of a strange Scottish village, a victim of the Dunblane massacre, a sad saxophone player, even the author as a young child.
This new collection clearly demonstrates Christopher Wiseman’s range and command of form and tone, and reinforces his reputation for accessibility, deep feeling, honesty and compassion. He knows exactly what he is about, and Crossing the Salt Flats is mature and powerful work which puts him squarely among Canada’s finest poets.