Deriving

by Jennifer Bowering Delisle

Deriving explores infertility, motherhood, and family, while troubling the colonial legacies of the English language and Canadian identity. A feminist exploration of ancestral and etymological origins, Jennifer Bowering Delisle's critical collection asks how does language impact our ways of being in the world? How do historical voices echo in the present? How does past infertility colour the experience of new motherhood? Within these poems, the rich material of mothering is embraced with unapologetic honesty, confronting the erasure of experiences that some would keep hidden. Fear, anger, envy mixes with joy and ultimately hope, as the challenges of conceiving and raising children in both familial and global contexts are explored. Deriving is a poignant, lyrical meditation on longing, place, embodiment, and ultimately, the miracle of life.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 2021

About the author

Jennifer Bowering Delisle is the author of The Bosun Chair, a hybrid of poetry and family memoir forthcoming from NeWest Press. She has published poetry, non-fiction and fiction in magazines and anthologies across North America.

Jennifer has a PhD in Canadian Literature, and is also the author of The Newfoundland Diaspora: Mapping the Literature of Out-Migration.

Reviews

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart-felt book about infertility, motherhood and the natural world. It was a pleasure to read this fine collection.