Vancouver’s Lifeguard Legend

“Ruby Smith Diaz (l.) examines the life of Joe Fortes, a Black lifeguard in Vancouver, during a time of rampant racism, exploring his legacy and identity through research, personal reflections and poetry.FULL STORY

 

Grasslands and star fields

November 19th, 2021

Matt Rader’s 5th collection of poetry Ghosthawk (Nightwood $18.95) is described by his publisher as “a guidebook of imagination from grasslands to star fields to the weather of the poet’s body.” In the midst of descriptions of bodily pain, human mortality (mentions of cancer wards, having to breath with the help of a machine and a near-death experience) and ecological crisis, Rader strews the names of wildflowers, trees, birds, snakes and other bits of the natural world from around his home in Kelowna. The publisher ends the blurb by maintaining “These poems are what he learned, the directions as he can best describe them.” 9780889714045

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