In April, 2000, when the celebrated Canadian poet Al Purdy died, Alberta writer Tim Bowling decided that the best way to pay homage to Purdy would be to devote an entire book to the many fine poets still living and writing in Canada. Where the Words Come From is a comprehensive collection of eighteen interviews, in each of which a younger, less widely known poet questions an older, more established peer on a wide range of issues related to what Chaucer called "the craft so long to learn." Why does a person become a poet? Where do the ideas for poems originate? How do poets feel about such matters as publication, reviews and prizes? What influences and interests drive a poet's creativity? And what value does poetry have for the individual and for the community at large?

Poets are rarely given such an opportunity to discuss what matters to them most in their art, and this alone makes Where the Words Come From an important contribution to Canadian culture. But, in addition, the bringing together of generations, from poets in their late twenties to those in their mid eighties, and including all the decades in between, makes this gathering of voices a unique representation of the past, present, and future of poetry in Canada.

Among the poets interviewed are many of the most honoured who have ever published in this country: P.K. Page, Margaret Avison, Phyllis Webb, Don Coles, Don McKay, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Patrick Lane. And the poets asking the questions form the nucleus of Canada's poetry future, including Stephanie Bolster, Carmine Starnino, Ken Babstock, Helen Humphreys, David O'Meara and Julie Bruck.

A highly readable treasure trove of talk and insight for affirmed fans of Canadian poetry, as well as for anyone interested in learning more about this most intriguing of art forms, Where the Words Come From celebrates over a half-century of wonderful writing while it looks ahead to a future that promises continued excitement and excellence.

Tim Bowling has published numerous poetry collections, including Low Water Slack; Dying Scarlet (winner of the 1998 Stephan G. Stephansson Award for poetry); Darkness and Silence (winner of the Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry); The Witness Ghost; and The Memory Orchard (both nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award). He is also the author of three novels, Downriver Drift (Harbour), The Paperboy's Winter (Penguin) and The Bone Sharps (Gaspereau Press). His first book of non-fiction, The Lost Coast: Salmon, Memory and the Death of Wild Culture (Nightwood Editions), was shortlisted for three literary awards: The Writers' Trust Nereus Non-Fiction Award, the BC Book Prizes' Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize and the Alberta Literary Awards' Wilfred Eggleston Award for Non-Fiction. The Lost Coast was also chosen as a 2008 Kiriyama Prize "Notable Book." Bowling is the recipient of the Petra Kenney International Poetry Prize, the National Poetry Award and the Orillia International Poetry Prize. Bowling was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008. A native of the West Coast, he now lives in Edmonton Alberta. His latest collection of poetry is Tenderman (Nightwood), due out in fall 2011.

Tim Bowling's profile page

"For anyone interested in the craft, and yes, even the business of being a Canadian poet (if that's not oxymoronic), these literally 'thought-full' conversations are well worth your attention." -Robert Moore, Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press

"An important book, not just for Canadian poets and poetry readers, but particularly for students and studies (both historical and critical) of Canadian literature; there aren't enough such collections."
-Geoffrey Cook, The Danforth Review

The Danforth Review

"Without question, this is an important archive of contemporary Canadian concerns with regard to craft and poetic pilosophy. . . . The willingness of many interviewers to explore questions through their own poetic strategies provides an interesting, contrapuntal resonance to these discussions. Where the Words Come From is a collection of important and compelling conversations that offers glimpses of the multifarious textures of thought in contemporary Canadian poetry and of the real personalities that have given and continue to give it shape." -Adam Dickinson, Canadian Literature

Canadian Literature

"real pleasures."
-Fraser Sutherland, Globe and Mail

Globe and Mail