Ashes: The John Newlove Chapbook Series

by Andrew Lafleche

Bestselling collection of Canadian poetry about survival, love, and loss beginning with the 2016 John Newlove Poetry Award poem, “defeated.” Ashes deals with a different kind of pain and heals a different kind of heartache. Lafleche takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them—because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

29 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 2, 2018

About the author

Andrew Lafleche is a Canadian actor, poet, and novelist known for his unflinching, transgressive style and psychologically charged storytelling. A professional member of the Writers’ Union of Canada, the Canadian Authors Association, and the League of Canadian Poets, Lafleche is the author of more than a dozen books spanning literary fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. His work has appeared in over 100 literary journals across North America and internationally, and he is the recipient of the John Newlove Poetry Award, among other national honours.

Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Lafleche served as an infantry soldier with the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, including deployment during the Afghanistan War. His military service—marked by discipline, leadership, and operational experience in high-risk environments—continues to inform the emotional intensity and realism of his writing.

Following his service, he earned a Master of Arts in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Gloucestershire and completed formal training in creative writing and business administration. His career extends beyond literature: he has worked as a firefighter, contributed to emergency response operations, and served on literary selection committees, bringing a rare combination of lived experience and editorial insight to his work.

Lafleche’s writing explores masculinity, addiction, faith, violence, and redemption—often inhabiting the space between destruction and transformation. His novel Trident Legion and multiple poetry collections have established him as a distinctive voice in contemporary Canadian literature.

He lives in Ontario, Canada, where he continues to write, publish, and explore the outer edges of human experience.

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Reviews

[Darrell Epp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Has that urgency, that unmistakable and mysterious something, that hooks you, makes you wonder where the author will take you next....

[Samantha Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed more of the darker corners of the human mind, solid writing, wish it had been longer