as if there could be no other memory a tree invisible remembering itself In as if, E.D. Blodgett takes readers on journeys of contemplation in which he re-imagines the lyric form. Each line leaves the reader breathless as it runs into the next to form a continuous cycle, a continued breath. The delicate syntax of each piece pushes one forward, ever forward. The poems are Dantesque, leading the traveller through a deeper, darker world. As a collection, as if constitutes an ars poetica of Blodgett's Apostrophes series. The poems explore the elements that make up the series-strict metrical patterns, the possibilities of breath, the endlessness and seamlessness of the spoken word, the incantation.

Poet and scholar, E.D. Blodgett has published seventeen books of poetry two of which were awarded the Governor General’s Award. He is an Emeritus Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta. His research has varied from mediaeval European romance to Canadian Comparative Literature and his publications include Five-Part Invention: A History of Literary History in Canada (2003) and Elegy (2005).

Harold Coward is Professor Emeritus and the past director of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria where he continues to be involved as a research fellow.

E.D. Blodgett's profile page

• Short-listed, Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry, Alberta Book Publishing Awards, Book Publishers Association of Alberta

"How succinctly Blodgett captures the fragility and incompleteness of human perception, and our powerful yearning to exceed these limitations.... With poetry, it's one thing to read the words; that happens quickly. Comprehending them is a slower process. Blodgett's poetry is unique, however--it forces you to read much more slowly the first time through. No doubt it's the even-paced phrasing, the deliberate and sparse language.... Poems to think about and think about again. To read, put down and consider, then read again."

Jay Smith

"Blodgett’s latest book in his Apostrophes series is two books in one. Both are contemplations of wisdom and identity. The first is a book of poetry—words laid down in measure, printed on paper. Its words are made of artful language.... The second book is an energy field, conjured by a reader reading that first book. Its words are not human language but the ghosts of the earth, conjured by human speech.... Blodgett’s consciousness is fluid here. His world moves between book, reader, memory, and earth with the surety of dream.... It is a bold undertaking, this business of bridging a half-century of Canadian poetry. Blodgett does it by making each physical word leave the book of words and enter the mind through the book of energies." [Full review at http://arcpoetry.ca/?p=8188#sthash.NwEPOoUQ.dpuf]

Arc Poetry