subUrban Legends

Joan Crate’s much-anticipated third book of poetry is equal parts revision and reverie, offering a mid-life view of childhood influences and expectations that is stirring, startling, and wise. Deliciously invoking the iconic figure of Snow White, subUrban Legends considers what lies beyond youth and the trite promise of “happily ever after,” transporting readers to a land of complexity and nuance from which few cultural officiados report.

AUTHOR

Joan Crate

Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Joan Crate was raised to have pride in her Indigenous heritage. Her first book of poetry, Pale as Real Ladies: Poems for Pauline Johnson, has become a classic. Her first novel, Breathing Water, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Award (Canada) and the Books in Canada First Novel Award. She is a recipient of the Bliss Carman Award for poetry; her collection subUrban Legends was awarded Book of the Year by the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. Her novel Black Apple won the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize. She taught literature and creative writing at Red Deer College, in Alberta, for over 20 years. She lives with her family in Calgary.

Reviews

“Joan Crate is the poet of our suburban dreams and our suburban nightmares. She turns daily experience into the stuff of shocking fairy tales and renewed legends. Line by eloquent line, her poems give voice to our stifling silences.” ? Robert Kroetsch