P. K. Page needs no introduction. This is a poet who writes in many genres and on an infinite number of subjects. The source of her poetry is always love – whether in vivid portraits of her inner and outer landscapes; startling insights into the past, the present, the future; illumination of some tiny detail of ordinary life; or admonishments for our neglect of the earth and of each other. Page is an alchemist who turns language into pure gold, a magician who dazzles with sleight of mind. The Essential P. K. Page is perceptive, elegant, romantic (yet never sentimental), sometimes downright funny, wholly conscious.
This is the second volume in our ‘Essential Poets’ series. Our aim is to provide the best possible introduction to a prominent Canadian poet by selecting key works that carry the essence of an individual poetic voice and sensibility. By offering a small but carefully considered selection it is hoped these chapbooks will invite an intimate acquaintance and ongoing engagement with the poems. Selected by Arlene Lampert and Théa Gray, the collection is admittedly wildly idiosyncratic and certain to be controversial. Arranged alphabetically for easy reference, these poems do not reflect a ‘young’ or a ‘mature’ voice; for Page, time is not linear and change does not occur along a narrow path. Think of this volume as a sort of pocket P. K. Page making its way into backpacks, carry-on luggage, doctors’ waiting rooms ...