What other poetry books have you been reading lately?
I finished The Woman on the Shore by Al Purdy in December. This was Purdy's second last book, but he still had a potency with words that makes me envious. I also read one of his older books, “Wild Grape Wine,” back in November. That was my favourite Purdy book I've read so far. A lot of it is about Purdy's life in Ontario sixty years ago, and I find it fascinating reading about his views (political and otherwise) on life in the 1960s. It contains one of my favourite Purdy poems, “Interruption,” which is about him and his wife's new house in rural Ontario, but also deals with humanity's place within nature.
Another book I finished recently was Dearly by Margaret Atwood. Some of this book is about Atwood dealing with the loss of her longtime partner, Graeme Gibson. Whenever Atwood writes about relationships, she's at her best. The sadness and sense of loss in this book actually slowed me down reading it (but in a good way). That is one of the strengths of poetry, however, the way it can convey emotion so much more succinctly than prose. Atwood's also a master at language, so I always learn something whenever I read one of her poetry books.
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