Jogging with the Great Ray Charles

Résumé du livre

A poetic masterclass from a writer at the height of his craft

Kenneth ShermanÍs work has always displayed a vibrant lyricism, so itÍs no surprise that his powerful new collection contains a number of poems with musical motifs. In such pieces as ñClarinet,î ñTransistor Sister,î and the bookÍs titular poem, Sherman ponders our human transience while searching for ña voice to stand timeÍs test.î Sherman also confronts health concerns in a language that is Shaker-plain. The book concludes with the sombre, compassionate, and truly remarkable seven-part ñKingdom,î a meditation on the plight of the dispossessed.

In a Globe and Mail review of The Well: New and Selected Poems, Fraser Sutherland notes, ñSherman always seems to be listening to the voice of Canadian soil and landscape at the same time as he is attentive to the great European metaphysical theme of the soul in conflict with the world and time.î So it is with Jogging with the Great Ray Charles. Sherman has also included three brilliant translations of Yiddish poets that appeared in the Malahat ReviewÍs ñAt Home in Translationî issue.