Reprint: Hilarity, Wit and Tenderness

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So Regina poet Gillian Harding-Russell reviewed Stowaways for the 10th anniversary issue of The Goose, which is the creative/critical journal run by ALECC (Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada).

Harding-Russell's review opens with the following:

"In Stowaways, Ariel Gordon reflects a feminist and often a mother's perspective in which zany metaphor and unusual collage are poised to startle and challenge the reader. And if this imagery and meaning brought about through juxtaposition are not enough to disrupt the reader's ordinary
senses, surreal angles and surprise turns are guaranteed to dislocate sensibility and overturn old ways of seeing. At the heart of Gordon's postmodern view, comedy and cleverness and an intrinsically parodic inventiveness reign, as witness the slew of 'how to' survive poems that make up the
last half of the collection."

It should go without saying that any poet appreciates close readings of her work. But in this case, I deeply appreciate that it was Harding-Russell, a senior female poet from the prairies, who provided that close reading. She seems to have 'gotten' many of my aims and efforts, which is always nifty...

You can read the rest of the review here and, if you'd also like to read reviews of books by my Palimpsest pressmates Yvonne Blomer, Patricia Young, and Ruth Roach Pierson, they're also reviewed in this issue.