Flyway

by Sarah Ens

This meditation on the impact of human and ecological trauma explores the cost of survival for three generations of women living between empires. Writing from within the disappearing tallgrass prairie, Sarah Ens follows connections between the Russian Mennonite diaspora and the disrupted migratory patterns of grassland birds. Drawing on family history, eco-poetics, and the rich tradition of the Canadian long poem, Flyway migrates along pathways of geography and the heart to grapple with complexities of home.

Genres: Poetry

110 pages, Paperback

Published May 5, 2022

About the author

Sarah Ens is a writer and editor based in Treaty 1 territory (Winnipeg, MB). Her first book, The World Is Mostly Sky (Turnstone Press), was shortlisted for the 2021 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the 2022 Lansdowne Prize for Poetry. Her second book, Flyway (Turnstone Press), launched spring 2022. Sarah is the Winner of The New Quarterly's 2019 Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest and Room Magazine's 2018 Short Forms Contest.

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

FLYWAY by Sarah Ens is an excellent long poem! This book follows three generations of women and travels from Soviet Ukraine to the tallgrass prairie in Manitoba. I loved how this poem shares her family history and also focuses on place and home and how that changes with time, migration and settlement. I would love to read Sarah’s first poetry book now too!

Thank you to Turnstone Press for my gifted review copy!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

|| FLYAWAY ||
#gifted @turnstone_press
✍🏻
Having previously read Ens, The World Is Mostly Sky I was anticipating what she might do next and FLYAWAY was a strong follow up. Haunting and intense, with deep themes at play made for a moving and though provoking read. Much enjoyed!

For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This year I'm planning to gradually transition to StoryGraph, so if you're my friend on here, add me there @monica1299

This gorgeous book of poetry evoked strong feelings of connection to the land. Especially so, because the grass and bird species of the tall grass prairie are familiar to me. I love an interdisciplinary moment where I can use my ecological and cultural/historical lenses to interpret one text.

I decided not to read in the way I used to read poetry for school, dissecting my thoughts and pausing to analyze every page. I felt that that would ruin the experience. Instead, I just let the prose flow over me. This was easy to do, because the phrasing is quite melodic.

The Russian Mennonite diaspora (during and after World War II) was handled smoothly, very raw but with a focus on the minute day-to-day, which is my favourite way to read about the tragedies of wartime.

It was cool to read about my Mennonite heritage and frame it with symbolism in the natural world, here in southern Manitoba, where my ancestors settled. Fun to find familiar foods and traditions mentioned. It was also neat to recognize some names in the acknowledgements. Highly recommend this book for folks with Mennonite heritage and even the slightest interest in poetry.

[Michael]

My interview with Ens discussing the book is here:
https://umfm.com/programming/broadcas...