Niche
By Basma Kavanagh
| ISBN # | 9781927823309 |
| Author | Basma Kavanagh |
| Pages | 118 |
| Size | 6 x 9 inches |
| Binding type | Soft Cover with Flaps |
| Release Date | July 1, 2015 |
| Price CAD$ | $15.95 |
Winner of the 2016 Lansdowne Prize for Poetry
Compelled by loss of knowledge, species, habitat and traditions, my intention with this collection is to elucidate the endurance of what is no longer physically apparent. Extinctions and an exploration of the Red List (the endangered species list for Nova Scotia) are important to this work. The poems grapple with human culpability, but also ask: What will happen as human relationships with non-human animals and other living things diminish? What will happen if we become extinct? These larger questions about our future in a changing climate are inextricably linked to specific inquiries into what we have lost by reducing certain habitats, hunting particular species to the brink of extinction, and abandoning place-specific traditions and practices. Our sadness surrounding extinction seems to confirm E. O. Wilson’s Biophilia (life-loving) hypothesis, our basic need for other life; however, a uniquely human self-loathing distances us from the very life-affirming and life-giving connections that we require. How do we move beyond despair? What happens after extinction? What is regained through the revival of traditions, the restoration of habitats, re-introductions of species? Is this a moment to be both patient and visionary, to see beyond destruction to whatever natural renewal will occur without more intervention, or should we cautiously explore the “re-animations” and “de-extinctions” proposed by the scientific community?
BASMA KAVANAGH is a poet, visual artist and letterpress printer originally from Nova Scotia and now living in Brandon, Manitoba. She produces artist’s books under the imprint Rabbit Square Books. She is the author of the chapbook A Rattle of Leaves (Red Dragonfly Press, 2012) and Distillō (Gaspereau Press, 2012).
“Basma Kavanagh’s spritely genius is both fierce and delicate, biologically exact and artistically complex. This is work of wide scope: deep, informed mourning for what humans have done to the earth, and equally deep, equally informed hope for what might survive us.”
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November 26, 2018
Quartet 2018 Launch in Calgary
Join us for the launch of Quartet 2018 at the new Calgary Library.
Our authors for 2018 are a diverse group whose work variously evokes images of a whirling griot dervish, an Arabic oral ruba'iyat linking climate change and the oppression of women, a military brat at the food of the Rockies, and anthropomorphized creatures that morph into a love song that renders queer lives both vulnerable and endearing.
- Rooster, Dog, Crow by Jim Nason
- Night Flying by Laurie Fuhr
- Nouveau Griot by Tanya Evanson
- Ruba'iyat for the Time of Apricots by Basma Kavanagh
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