Descent into Lima

John Walker is a professor of Spanish studies at Queen’s University.

Descent into Lima continues in the same vein as Daniel, for which Bruce
Rice won the Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry in 1989. The
volume is divided into five sections, reflecting Rice’s travels in
Canada and Peru. Isolation, madness, human conflict (family and
individual), and the search for identity and meaning in a cruel and
alien world are the predominant themes. The section entitled Mad Anne
chronicles the disturbing association between the demented narrator and
the equally tragic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, whose self-portrait
graces the cover of the book. “Mountain” deals with World War II,
death and suffering, parents and children, and the poor and
marginalized. “The Well” continues the themes of cruelty to
children, pain, and death, but finds redemption in the birth of the
poet’s daughter, Mira. Bruce Rice is a powerful voice in contemporary
Canadian poetry.