Tar Swan

by David Martin

Tar Swan is a multi-voiced reckoning that surveys the mythos of the Alberta oil sands with an approach that is both lyrical and experimental. The poems feature four voices: an oil sands developer (in public and in private), his plant mechanic, an archeologist excavating the remains of the operation years later, and a mythical swan. David Martin's debut collection is comprised of expansive and richly written poems, built on a lore-laden language, which explore the human and environmental cost of drawing too much from the land. As the three humans come into contact with the otherworldly swan, the voices bubble and churn together, and what is distilled is the human psychological breakdown paralleling the violence done to the earth.

Genres: Poetry, Canada

96 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2018

About the author

David Martin works as a literacy instructor in Calgary and also as an organizer for the Single Onion Poetry Series. His first collection, Tar Swan (NeWest Press, 2018), was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award and the City of Calgary W. O. Mitchell Book Prize. His second collection, Kink Bands (NeWest Press, 2023), was shortlisted for the Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry from the BPAA, and also shortlisted for the Banff Mountain Book Competition. His most recent book, Limited Verse, was published by the University of Calgary Press in 2024 and was shortlisted for the City of Calgary W. O. Mitchell Book Prize. As well, David’s work has been awarded the CBC Poetry Prize, and has been shortlisted for prizes from FreeFall, Vallum, PRISM international, and the Alberta Magazine Awards. In 2023, he was named a “Writer to Watch” by CBC Books, and recently his work was included in Best Canadian Poetry 2025 (Biblioasis). His latest collection, nightstead, was published by Palimpsest Press in 2026.

Reviews

[Jessica DeWitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an environmental historian, I really appreciated and noticed the archival research that went into this poetic that follows four figures: Robert C. Fitzsimmons (1881-1971), an early oil sands developer; Frank Badura, a worker accused of sabotage by Fitzsimmons; Dr. Brian K. Wolsky, a contemporary archaeologist who digs up early oil sands sites; and the mythical swan at the center of the narrative. Each actor is represented by a different type of poem structure; I'd never read a collection that used this methodology to differ between voices, and I really liked it.

A lot of the story is unclear, but I think that is on purpose. What does come through clearly, however, are the emotions of the actors, particularly the descent into madness of Fitzsimmons and Badura by the end.

*Currently thinking if any of the lines from the collection will be suitable for the visually-based book on the oil sands for youth that I am writing.*

I recommend reading this piece by Max Karpinski (who has a much firmer grasp on the collection as a whole than I do!) to better understand the collection: "Excavating the Oil Sands: Archaeology, Polyvocality, and the Aesthetics of Extraction in David Martin’s Tar Swan": https://niche-canada.org/2021/09/20/e...

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard for me to follow. But I will always support a fellow Albertan

[Kathy Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mythic Conflict in the Oil Sands

David Martin's poetry book "Tar Swan" gifts readers with a series of dramatic monologues that hark back to George Elliott Clarke's opera libretto, "Beatrice Chancy"; both works apply elevated, allusive language to quotidian realities. In the case of "Tar Swan," oil impressario Robert Fitzsimmons' increasingly frenetic orations to his would-be backers contrast his deteriorating letters home to his wife. Both parts of Fitz's voice contrast those of downtrodden plant engineer Frank Badura. Together, the voices of Fitz and Badura, men responsible for the plant's running contrast the dry manipulations of an archaologist, writing 50 years after the plant's chaotic meltdown. Over, beneath and permesting all,the mythic tar swan -- avatar of greed and lust -- meddles, mired in the human tragedies of god-like proportions.

[Connor Ferster · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating (and delightfully chilling) book of poetry that reads similar to a novella. The depth of Martin’s research into the life (and artifacts) of Robert Fitzsimmons comes through in this book. However, the story is also filled with myth and fantastical imagery, a true Tale that could be past down through the ages. This tale is so filled with the stuff of human dreams and desires that it may very well be a more true of account of the genesis of the Alberta tar sands than a simple compilation of letters, artifacts, and diaries, alone, could provide. While it is written about the tar sands, it is a story that applies to any moment and any place where the mind’s of humans fixate upon exploiting the world for their own gain.

[Rhys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dazzling poetry. Tells the story of the first production process in the Athabaska (tar, oil, bitumen) sands in Alberta through the minds of the owner, the workers, modern archeologists and a swan (portending beauty and violence).

[Vivian Zenari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the multi vocal nature of this collection. Being experimental, the poems do not easily give out meaning, and I wish they did give out their meanings a tad more easily, but I didn’t mind puzzling the poems out either.