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

 

Sheryda’s hopeful humanism

September 28th, 2015

Hopeful humanism abounds in Sheryda Warrener’s follow-up to her debut volume of poetry, Hard Feelings (Snare/Invisible 2010). In her collection Floating is Everything (Nightwood $18.95), she writes to her father from balmy California to note “the voice / of the guy on the boardwalk in full uniform, / sign at his feet that reads Free Hugs, claiming / ‘People’ll spend $1.50 on a coffee at Starbucks over a chance / to hug a former soldier. That’s true.’ So far, no takers.” We learn her three-year-old son likes to sing along to the John Lennon song ‘Oh Yoko!, making a performance of it. “He voice lags a little behind, but in the early morning dark he’s got that hopeful human feeling right.” Upon publication, Warrener was teaching at UBC. Her poetry was previously shortlisted for the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry. 978-088971-315-4

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