Anthologies provide such wonderful opportunities for readers to discover work that appeals to them. This, the second in a planned trilogy of collections, is again edited by the former Poet Laureate of Victoria, Yvonne Blomer. Like in Refugium: Poems for the Pacific, the first book in the series, the focus is on water – this time, the fresh liquid that sustains life in the watersheds. Containing works by more than 100 Canadian poets, the anthology offers a broad range of forms and styles, with poetry that always considers the critical importance of water to life. The anthology includes biographical information for each contributor. Of even greater value to teachers and students, in a section called “Notes and Ecologies of Poems,” each poet offers a short paragraph that explains or enhances the poem they’ve written. This book would be a valuable addition to any secondary school library.

256 pp., 6 × 9"

Source: Association of Book Publishers of BC - BC Books for Schools (2021-2022)

Yvonne Blomer is the author of four poetry collections, including The Last Show on Earth, which was published with Caitlin Press in 2022, and As if a Raven (Palimpsest Press, 2015); in the fall of 2022 Palimpsest Press released Book of Places: 10th Anniversary Edition. Yvonne is the editor of the anthologies Refugium: Poems for the Pacific and Sweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds (Caitlin Press, 2017 and 2021). Sugar Ride: Cycling from Hanoi to Kuala Lumpur (Palimpsest Press, 2017) is her travel memoir exploring body, time, and travel. Yvonne is the past Poet Laureate of Victoria, BC, and the past Artistic Director of the weekly reading series Planet Earth Poetry; Yvonne is Arc Poetry Magazine’s current poet-in-residence for 2022-2023. She lives on the traditional territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) people in Victoria, BC. www.yvonneblomer.com

Yvonne Blomer's profile page

“Sweet Water is a beautiful contribution to a growing body of literature on the ecological crisis, offering not only exquisite observation but deeply felt experience and clear reason for action.”

—Understorey Magazine

"Stop. Slow down. Suspend time. Let your soul come to rest in this haunting book as you take a quiet journey to a watershed that someone cherishes. Sweet Water examines our relationship to water in all it forms by the best poets among us and powerfully reminds us of our dependence on this precious life force. A wonderful collection."

--Maude Barlow, activist, honourary chair of the Council of Canadians, and author of Whose Water is it Anyway: Taking Water Protection into Public Hands

“It is no secret that freshwater has become more scarce as fossil fuel industry expansion and other dangerous land use practices continue. This refreshing volume, whose pages are made possible by the same substance that allows us to live in pursuit of decolonization and other forms of justice, is essential. If these charge-sequenced poems can prompt reflection on the stuff of reflecting pools, lives and ecosystems will be richer for it.”

— Christine Leclerc, author of the long poem Oilywood (Nomados Editions, 2013)

“Sweet Water is a wonderful, heartfelt book with much to teach us about our relationship to fresh water, its life cycle and the threats it faces.”

—The Ormsby Review

“A few examples can only hint at what’s contained in this collection, which is bigger than the sum of its poems. The personal and the political diverge and collide again and again. The poets’ tone and words and meter and focus shift from poem to poem, adding a linguistic complexity that so admirably suits the many-faceted subject of this timely anthology.”

—Island Writer magazine (18.2)