A Clearing

by Louise Carson

A Clearing is a meditation of the everyday - both the joys and the losses observed in the natural world as they so closely mirror day-to-day human experience. There is a mystical edge to these poems that opens to deeper understanding of simple desire juxtaposed with the hard realities of homelessness, failed relationships and loss in childbirth. Tender, poignant portraits alternate with a sharper, darker voice evoked by difficult life experiences. Seasons are metaphors for loss and hunger, leading readers to larger revelations about aging, violence and global conflict. These poems are short, gritty and provocative, asking the reader to look harder at their own lives and the world around them.

88 pages, Paperback

Published April 5, 2015

About the author

Born in Montreal and raised in Hudson, Quebec, Louise Carson studied music in Montreal and Toronto, played jazz piano and sang in the chorus of the Canadian Opera Company. Carson has published five books: Rope, a blend of poetry and prose set in eighteenth century Scotland; Mermaid Road, a lyrical novella; A Clearing, a collection of poetry; Executor, a mystery set in China and Toronto; and The Cat Among Us. A sixth book, The Cat Vanishes, is to appear in October 2018.
Her poems appear in literary magazines, chapbooks and anthologies from coast to coast, including The Best Canadian Poetry 2013. She's been short-listed in FreeFall Magazine's annual contest three times and won a Manitoba Magazine Award. She's presented her work in many public forums, including Hudson's Storyfest 2015, and in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Saskatoon, Kingston and New York City.
She lives in St-Lazare, Quebec, where she writes, teaches music and gardens.