The Colours of the Forest

by Tom Wayman

tagged: canadian

Description

In this new collection, Canadian poet Tom Wayman, long honoured for his incisive observations on life in the workplace and the classroom, takes a more personal turn. Many of these poems celebrate the gains and losses of "middle-aging," while others reflect on the deaths of parents and friends. Readers of "Life with Dick" and "The Big O" will be relieved to find that, through it all, one quality of Wayman's writing that keeps gaining in vigour is his fine subversive sense of humour.

Considered the guru of the North American work poetry movement, Wayman adds depth to the tradition in his latest work by writing white-collar workers alongside blue-collar workers, drawing on his experiences in both worlds.

About the Author

Tom Wayman’s prolific literary career includes writing more than twenty poetry collections, three collections of critical and cultural essays, three books of short fiction and a novel, as well as editing six poetry anthologies. He received British Columbia’s 2022 George Woodcock Award for Lifetime Achievement in the literary arts. In 2015, he was named a Vancouver Literary Landmark, with a plaque on the city’s Commercial Drive commemorating his championing of people writing for themselves about their daily employment. His own work life involved a range of blue- and white-collar jobs across North America, including teaching in both alternative and mainstream post-secondary institutions. He won the Western Canada Jewish Book Awards prize for fiction in 2016 (for the short story collection, The Shadows We Mistake for Love) and for poetry in 2023 (for Watching a Man Break a Dog’s Back: Poems for a Dark Time). Wayman lives in Winlaw, BC, and his website is www.tomwayman.com.

Awards

Short-listed, Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize

About BC Books Online

The Colours of the Forest

by Tom Wayman

Buy this book at: