Tim Bowling and Ther-esa Shea, former residents of Gibsons, return to the Sunshine Coast to read from their new books in an event sponsored by the Gibsons Live Poets Society and publishers Nightwood Editions and Brindle & Glass.
The event will take place at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery (GPAG) on Thursday, July 18, at 7 p.m.
Originally from Ladner, Bowling kick-started a notable career when he published his first poetry collection, Low Water Slack, with Nightwood Editions in December 1995. Now, 18 years later, he has published 10 collections of poetry, two books of non-fiction and four novels, and has won national and international awards for his work.
Bowling celebrates 20 years of writing with his latest collection, Selected Poems ($22.95, Nightwood Editions), which gathers together his finest poetry. Always a poet of intense emotion and surprising metaphor whose lyric-narrative voice ranges in tone from romantic to humorous to coldly tragic and dark, Bowling's integrity has never wavered, nor has his commitment to celebrating poetic tradition and his love of the natural world. Many of the poems in the volume have won significant honours, both in and outside Canada, from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in the U.S.
Shea will be reading from her debut novel The Unfinished Child ($19.95, Brindle & Glass). Her book follows protagonist Marie MacPherson, a mother of two, who finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at 39. Marie's situation is further complicated when she becomes convinced something is wrong with her baby. She then enters the world of genetic testing and is entirely unprepared for the decision that lies ahead.
Intertwined throughout the novel is the story of Margaret, who gave birth to a daughter with Down syndrome in 1947, when such infants were defined as "unfinished" children. As the novel shifts back and forth through the decades, the lives of the women converge, and the story speeds to an unexpected conclusion.
Shea has published poetry, fiction, essays, reviews and articles in a number of Canadian magazines and journals. Born in Maryland and raised throughout the U.S., she moved to Canada in 1977. Shea and Bowling currently live in Edmonton with their three children.
- Submitted
