In her tenth volume of poetry, Parade of Storms, award-winning author Evelyn Lau turns her focus on the weather. Never having thought of herself as an environmental poet, the author found that under the strictures of the pandemic the recent effects of climate change became more and more intrusive and unavoidable. Storms, floods, wildfires, environmental devastations sent news headlines leaping out in sharp relief – “a river in the sky,” “atmospheric rivers,” “parade of storms,” “heat dome” – and in such poetic terminology. Weather, both physical and emotional, forms the backdrop to this new collection.

Other themes that appear in the author’s previous work – relationships, the body, aging/illness/mortality, place, mood disorders, the shadows of the past – are explored here too.