Poet with Sudbury roots attracts attention
Winter 2010 |
The Globe and Mail's 100 titles for 2010 includes Welling, a collection of poetry by Margaret Christakos, published in April 2010 by Sudbury’s Your Scrivener Press. It is one of only three poetry titles on the list.
In her Globe review of Welling Judith Fitzgerald says “Long a restless renegade in search of a worthy vessel, Christakos clearly honed and clarified her craft over several collections. Consequently, this pièce de résistance, a spectacular achievement enhanced by a formidable talent coming to fruition, contains some of the finest poems to appear in print in recent memory.”
Christakos approached Laurence Steven of Your Scrivener Press with Welling because the poems arise out of her youth in Sudbury and her regular visits to the family camp on Ramsey Lake with her family. In his poetry blog Ottawa poet rob mclennan draws out the regional connection: “‘Who / would leave such a place?’ This becomes the question of the entire book, exploring a return, exploring home and reasons for returning, reasons for originally leaving, and knowing the difference.”
Christakos says of her youth in Sudbury that she grew up “with hills, rock, lakes and short cuts” in a place where “winter was winter and summer was a fresh water lake called Ramsey.”
She is the award-winning author of seven acclaimed poetry collections and a novel, Charisma, shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award. She teaches creative writing and runs ‘Influency: A Toronto Poetry Salon’ at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Prior to Welling her most recent collection is What Stirs (Coach House 2008). Sooner (Coach House 2005) was shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award. Georgia Straight says Christakos is “…one of Canada’s most innovative and exciting writers….”
