Laurence Hutchman and Eva Kolacz-Hutchman have brought together some of their finest love poems in this two part book Fire and Water. Working together, they showcase the relationship between man and wife, from first meetings, to quiet moments together, to making love. The first half Fire, features poems by Eva in which she describes with artful clarity the tender moments between a man and a woman. The second half Water, are poems by Laurence which give the reader glimpses of moments where he feels intense love for the woman in his life.

A collaborative effort spanning the years of their love, Fire and Water shows us the unity between a husband and wife through their different interpretations of the relationship they both share together.

Laurence Hutchman was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Toronto. He received his PhD from the Université de Montreal and has taught at a number of universities. For twenty-three years he was a professor of English literature at the Université de Moncton at the Edmundston Campus. Hutchman has published 13 books of poetry, including Foreign National, Beyond Borders, Reading the Water, Personal Encounters, Two Maps of Emery, The House of Shifting Time, Fire and Water (in collaboration with Eva Kolacz) and Swimming Toward Sun Collected Poems: 1968-2020. He has also co-edited the anthology Coastlines: The Poetry of Atlantic Canada and edited In the Writers’ Words.

His poetry has received many grants and awards, including the Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence and has been translated into numerous languages. In 2017 he was named poet laureate of Emery, north Toronto. He lives with his wife, the artist and poet, Eva Kolacz in Oakville, Ontario.

Laurence Hutchman's profile page

Eva Kolacz is the author of two previous books Whatever We Are (Hidden Book Press, 2019) and Fire and Water (with Laurence Hutchman) (Black Moss Press, 2020). She is also a professional painter. Eva lives in Oakville, Ontario with her husband, the poet, Laurence Hutchman.

Eva Kolacz's profile page

"Fire and Water, these love poems, get back to basics, to the elements, to the sacred facts of our bodies and being, that we are souls not meant to be solo; that we are meant to pair off and engender offspring. Eva Kolacz tends the heart-felt fire that is her desire: "She is not afraid of thunder, trying to burn her waves". . . For his part, Laurence Hutchman observes of his love, "You make me dare the night's darkness, / accept the lightning as part of the storm." Here is a couple who give us the couplet of their twin minds, twin selves, their doubled valentines. Who can refuse love poems, "the bird with paper wings / burning in the air," or those ankles, / locked around me, / the clarity of the moment, / that is beyond the measure of metaphor"? Here's fire—earthy, volcanic; here's water that airs roars and sighs. And Eva Kolacz's drawings render naked—and transparent—the heart."
— George Elliott Clarke