Hélène Dorion’s lauded collection My Forests celebrates and examines our complex relationship with the natural world. The poems gathered here serve not only as hymns of praise to the trees, but also as vital warnings of fragility—both theirs and our own.

Dorion lives surrounded by lakes and forests, rivers and shores, in the fog of memory and in vast estuaries where thoughts flow into the sea. Taking inspiration from this vivid landscape, she delves into the heart of the forest, while also exploring how our relationship with nature has deteriorated over time. Lush and sensual images evoke the forest’s enduring beauty, locating nature within the noise of the world and the passage of time.

By imploring us to listen to the chorus of the trees, My Forests offers the hope that we will protect our shared home and envision a collective future in which all people can live in dignity. Seeking a way out of the darkness, Dorion’s poems lead us toward “a vast and luminous path/that gives meaning/to what we call humanity.”