Year Zero

by Brian Henderson

Year Zero is the time of hushed beginnings and endings, the place of naming and unnaming, where language, strange to itself, tiptoes along songlines as though following passages of Koto music. In Brian Henderson's poetry, poised and listening on this hinge of creativity, ontological wonder is informed by awareness of the paradoxes at the heart of language, that language wants you for itself, and that what is named, falls. Whether focusing on the dying of a parent or fellow poet, or on the coming-to-be of a child, this poetry is alive with the truth that "The dead burn through us/ the not yet born." "What a wonderful book this is! Henderson tells the old story how dear ones die, and new lives come to be. In a world that's dense, opaque, yet lit with random hints of something being uttered. The result is a marvel of passionate, glancing eloquence. I wanted it never to end." --Dennis Lee

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Brian Henderson is the author of twelve volumes of poetry, the most recent of which is Unidentified Poetic Object from Brick Books. Sharawadji (Brick Books, 2011), was nominated for the Canadian Authors Association Chambers Award for Poetry. Nerve Language (Pedlar Press, 2007) was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. Henderson's work, both critical and poetic, has appeared in a number of literary journals. He holds a PhD in Canadian literature, is the past director of Wilfrid Laurier University Press, and lives in Grey Highlands, Ontario, with his wife, Charlene.