Friday 24 December 2010

A Christmas present from Johanna Skibsrud

In the Globe and Mail today, 30 writers are asked to talk about their favourite books of the year. Giller Award winner Johanna Skibsrud has some kind things to say about my lastest collection. Thanks, Johanna!
I read Vermeersch’s latest collection in a single sitting, which I don’t do very often. The language is dense, but there’s such a strong rhythmic pull to it – to me, gloriously reminiscent of James Dickey – that you just get carried; at times, it feels as though it’s being spoken to you by the most captivating and enlightened tent preacher. There’s also a deep empathy in Vermeersch’s work that helps to remind me what poetry – what language – is, or should be, about.
Read the whole piece here.