Disturbances of Progress

(Paperback)

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If the expression 'Two steps forward, one step back' describes the conventional attitude toward hesitation and uncertainty, Disturbances of Progress takes those steps and turns them into a dance.

In an intimate and intensely personal manner, Lise Downe's third major collection of poetry documents the sorts of interruptions that plague the lives of artists and writers. Yet the poems themselves emerge as testament to the triumph of the artistic process over circumstance.

As the poet mulls over the uncertainty of her own life's trajectory, she deftly weaves together the imagery of searching and the vagaries of language into a whole cloth. Downe's writing uses the qualities of colloquial speech hesitation, interjection, digression and repetition to convey the experience of writing as an unforseen progression. Favouring intuitive progress over linear intention, these vivid, painterly poems reflect the dynamic between the known and the unknown.

Author Bio

Lise Downe is the author of two previous books of poetry, A Velvet Increase of Curiosity and The Soft Signature. Originally from London, Ontario, she resides in Toronto, where she also practices goldsmithing.