Written as a vibrant discussion between Barwin and Necakov, this book-length poem takes us on a hypnagogic journey that examines many ways of seeing and experiencing the world. Although the work considers many themes, such as trauma, grief, anxiety, climate change, impending doom, war, illness, and cultural fragmentation, at its core, it argues for an unbridled creativity and beauty.

The author of more than twenty books of poetry, fiction and books for children, Gary Barwin is a writer, musician and multimedia artist from Hamilton, Ontario and the author of the nationally bestselling novel, Yiddish for Pirates (Penguin Random House Canada) which won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, the Canadian Jewish Literary Award was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award; and For It is a Pleasure and a Surprise to Breathe: New and Selected Poems, ed. Alessandro Porco (Wolsak and Wynn, 2019.)
A finalist for the National Magazine Awards (Poetry), he is a three-time recipient of Hamilton Poetry Book of the Year, has also received the Hamilton Arts Award for Literature and has co-won the bpNichol Chapbook Award and the K.M. Hunter Arts Award. He was one of the judges for the 2017 CBC Poetry Prize. Barwin has been Writer-in-Residence at Western University, Hillfield Strathallan College and McMaster University and the Hamilton Public Library. His writing and recordings have been published/released in hundreds of magazines and journals internationally—from Readers Digest to Granta. He is on the organizing committee for Hamilton’s LitLive Series and regularly presents, performs and exhibits in the city.

Gary Barwin's profile page

Lillian Necakov was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1960 and now lives in Toronto. She is the editor of the Surrealist Poets Gardening Association, a literary small press. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies, etc, in Canada, USA, and Europe, and forthcoming in China. Some of her books include Cowboy in Hamburg (Surrealist Poets Gardening Association, 1988), Listen (Pink Dog, 1988), Sickbed of Dogs (Wolsak & Wynn, 1989) and Polaroids (Coach House, 1999).

Lillian Necakov's profile page