The Debt

by Andreae Callanan

Finalist for the 2022 Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry Set against the backdrop of a post-moratorium St. John’s, Newfoundland,  The Debt  explores tensions between tradition and innovation, and between past and present in a province unmoored by loss and grief.  The Debt  is about development and change, idleness and activism, ecological stewardship, feminism, motherhood, the personal and the political. It is also about resistance—against the encroaching forces of greed and capitalism, even against the accumulated notions of the self. The poems are an argument for community and connection in an age increasingly associated with isolation of the individual.  The Debt  explores the dues we all to nature, to those who came before us, and to one another.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published April 6, 2021

Reviews

[Court Schueller · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4 stars.

I wanted more!! It was too short! Some poems in this collection that didn’t hit as hard, but MULTIPLE that did! I got it in a $5 fill a bag book sale at my library and I’m so glad I picked it up on a whim! I’d love to read more by this author. And “anniversary” makes me think of Ben :)

[David]

Another little gem of observation and meditation about the difficult task of being us being alive. Much beauty, and some challenging mental calisthenics.

[Susan White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection of poetry from Andreae Callanan. The poems are short, accessible, personal and observant. There's a sense that each word has been carefully and specifically chosen, but without pretension or obfuscation.

[Vivian Zenari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the variety of subject matter and its frequent focus on odd situations that generate strange images worthy of contemplation. The title poem has ideas that I agree quite a bit with: "We are all debtors here, beholden/to this jagged place for every lungful..."