Looking for a Turnout: Poems, New and Revised.

Sheila Martindale is poetry editor of Canadian Author and Bookman and
author of No Greater Love, her sixth collection of poetry.

This book may have been the last one written by Joan Finnigan, who died in 2007, the same year that Looking for a Turnout was published. The poems in the first section are mostly narrative, a genre in which this author is very comfortable, to the extent that some of the pieces are more prose than poetry. The tales told tend to be set in the Ottawa Valley (definitely Finnigan’s “Home and Native Land,”) and have the ring of authenticity. This is a writer who knows her stories, her geography, and her characters well, and it is these qualities which have always endeared Finnigan to her readers. Some of the tales go back in history, an outstanding example being “Saga of the Trees,” in which immigrants of all types have named indigenous trees for various reasons. Among the “revisited” poems are some shorter favourites, such as the delightful “Winter Bird,” written with an economy of words not found in many of the longer pieces; and the enigmatic “Him,” ending with a subtle twist. In addition, Finnigan is the master of the structured poem, as evidenced in the last poem in the book, the beautiful and haunting “Love in the Silent Songless Fields.” Those who have followed and loved the work of Joan Finnigan over the years will find much to enjoy here, will still be surprised and touched by the power of her words. For anyone unfamiliar with her prodigious output, this book will serve as a bittersweet “hello” and “goodbye.”