Views from the North: An Anthology of Travel Writing

Nora T. Corley is a librarian in Ottawa.

Views from the North is an eclectic collection of fifteen poems and twelve essays written by Canadians about Canada and other parts of the world. The prose compositions describe experiences in such disparate places as the Faroe Islands (George Johnston), Poland (Sam Solechi), Venice (Jane Urquart), Spain (Antanas Sileika), Burgundy (Virgil Burnett), Israel (Gwendolyn MacEwen), India (Rosemary Sullivan), Katmandu and Zambia (Robin Magowan), the Yangtze River (G.E. Bentley, Jr.), Tonga (Ken Norris), Brazil (P.K. Page), and Big Sur (Stephen Martineau). The poems, by Robert Kroetsch, Daphne Marlatt, Pauline Jiles, Roy Kiyooka, Earle Birney, Michael Ondaatje, and Karen Mulhallen are about Canada, Japan, Egypt, the tropics, and Punts Banda. The book is illustrated with dark and gloomy photographs, many of which seem to have no connection with the text. This arty-crafty collection of good and not-so-good writing will appeal to some, but not to many. This book was originally published as Descant 44/45.