Marya Fiamengo's first collection of poems, The Quality of Halves, was published in 1958 when the poet was thirty-one. Subsequent volumes, including Overheard at the Oracle (1969). Silt of Iron (1971), In Praise of Old Women (1976), North of the Cold Star (1978), Patience After Compline (1989) and White Linen Remembered (1996), have developed an increasingly personal voice and a deepening social engagement.

Fiamengo's poetic voice is always arresting and distinctive, blending the passion and lyricism of her ancestral language (Croatian) and mythos with the decorum, historical resonance, and moral commitments (to ideals of social justice in particular) of the British and Canadian traditions. She is a Canadian nationalist and a moderate feminist – also human, humorous, and frank.

Visible Living: Poems Selected and New presents a definitive selection of the best of her work, ranging from early writing to a large number of recent, previously unpublished verse. It enables readersto trace the development of Fiamengo's voice and concerns, from early work based on exploration of myth, to engagements with historical and political realities, to feminist pieces, to later elegies, to lyrics of highly personal statement on mortality and the divine, and confirms her achievement and status in the highest rank of Canadian poets.