Her first book of poetry, math for couples (Guernica Editions, 2017), was shortlisted for the Archibald Lampman Award. Her second book of poetry, buckled into the sky (Guernica Editions, 2021), has just appeared. She has also published two poetry chapbooks, a Baltic Friday early in grey (above/ground press, 2017) and Directions to Suffern NY circa 1950 (Tree Press, 2018), which won the Tree Reading Series chapbook prize.
She lives in Ottawa with her spouse.
Q: How long have you been in Ottawa, and what first brought you here?
I came to Ottawa more than forty years ago, drawn by its size and connectedness. A small city with big connections to the arts. Ottawa’s arts were (and are) accessible – close by, affordable, and easy to become part of. I still love that.
Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently, the writing community here?
I started writing seriously when my first grandchild was born. Becoming a grandmother lit up my world. Within a week, my first poem came to me, almost whole. I’d said for years that I would never write poetry, because both my mother and my sister had. But here I am, twenty years, two books and two chapbooks later, still writing poems.
Right from the start, I looked for a place that felt comfortable in the writing community here. I was looking for, and found, camaraderie, stimulation, feedback and a broader view of the writing world.
Q: How did being in such a community of writers shift your thinking about writing, if at all?
It keeps on shifting my thinking. Seeing the range of other writers’ subjects and styles clarifies how I see my own writing – what I like or would like to change about it. Plus the pleasure of hearing new kinds of expression, hearing of writers new to me, and how others manage the twists and turns of their writing process.
Q: What do you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere else? What does Ottawa provide, or allow?
It’s a great writing community here. I’ve found it welcoming, inclusive and supportive to someone like me who started writing later in life. Can’t really compare it with anywhere else, since I’ve only lived here since I started writing.
Q: Have any of your projects responded directly to your engagements here? How have the city and its community, if at all, changed the way you approached your work?
No writing projects directly about life in Ottawa. But this small, connected city often gives me time and the mental and physical space to write. A privileged situation, which I appreciate.
Q: What are you working on now?
For the first time in a decade, I’m not working on a large project. Since 2011, when I started putting my first book together, I’ve had projects on the go. There were chapbooks and long poem series, and now my second book, buckled into the sky, which has just been published.
At the moment, I’m writing a lot and enjoying the focus on individual poems –
whatever feels urgent at the time. An overarching project seems to be forming for these poems, but I’m sitting back and watching to see what shape it takes.
I’m also excited about my new book, buckled into the sky. Looking forward to reading from it, and sharing these poems about what led me away and then took me back to home. Glad to be here now.
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