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My island’s the house that I sleep in at night
Laurie Brinklow
Island Studies Press

One of the things you gift when you give a local book is the opportunity to re-discover a beloved place through someone else’s eyes (and words).

My family in Newfoundland lives less than an hour from Farewell, but I only boarded the ferry to Fogo Island for the first time this summer. I spent the day exploring beaches and stages and artists’ studios and climbing Brimstone Head, all the way to that wind-whipping lookout at the top where it’s just sea and sky as far as you can see.

I find myself right back there, “seeing the horizon all the way round / losing yourself / uncluttering” reading, “When You Come in Late to an Island.” The poem is dedicated to artist Adam Young, whose studio is on Fogo, and weaves in his story and voice. Each of the poems in the book is drawn from interviews with writers and artists on islands from Tasmania to PEI to Newfoundland.

Lyrical, varied and welcoming, Brinklow’s conversations with John Steffler, Lisa Moore, Don McKay, Michael Crummey and so many others explore the concept of ‘island-ness,’ what it means to be islanded, and “the island as metaphor for the self; the island as the perfect little poem.”

Read a sample poem from Poem of the Month here.

Our online orders are closed for the season, but you can pick up or order a copy from Bookmark Charlottetown or your local bookstore.