Voice

Bert Almon is a professor of English at the University of Alberta and
the author of Calling Texas and Earth Prime.

A reader naturally approaches this book with a certain respect: it won
the 1995 Governor General’s Award for poetry, and Anne Szumigalski is
one of Canada’s best poets. But this is not one of her best books. The
wry metaphysical fablemaking of her recent output—most notably Rapture
of the Deep—has threatened to become repetitive. Readers will have a
sensation of déja vu, but a little out of focus. The shorter poems are
generally the stronger ones, like “Third Trimester,” with its
powerful imagery. The long prose narratives seem strained by comparison.
The collection is illustrated rather garishly by the poet and painter
Marie Elyse St. George, whose allegorical works are visually repellent,
no doubt deliberately so.

Voice will not enhance Szumigalski’s reputation, nor will it diminish
it. Her voice is one of the most original in contemporary Canadian
poetry.