Gillian Savigny’s Notebook M imagines what scientific creativity might accomplish if given the space to play, free of the burden of empirical proof and the need to control meaning. Inspired by Charles Darwin’s own Notebook M, in which he brought his scientific sensibility towards decidedly unscientific notions of metaphysics, morals, imagination, and expression, in this collection the poet dons a lab coat and brings together the techniques and procedures of poetry and science. The result is a remarkably accomplished first collection of poetry. Natural selection becomes a technique to pull poems from Darwin’s prose, in a series of found poems. Metaphor becomes an experiment — a way of testing hypotheses about the nature of being and seeing. Savigny manipulates the lyric mode to address issues pertinent to both poets and scientists: issues of authorship, originality, copyright, and value. Invested with wonder, mystery, wit, and pathos, these poems strain against their own procedures and logic, affirming the wild, expressive potential of words.

Originally from Vancouver, Gillian Savigny has spent the last twelve years studying and working in cities across Canada. She holds a B.A. honours degree in English Literature from Queen’s University and an M.A. degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Concordia University. She has served as Editor for Ultraviolet Magazine, Managing Editor for Delirium Press, and Contributing Editor for Matrix. From 2007 to 2008 she worked as a speechwriter for the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition in Ottawa. Her poetry has appeared in several Canadian journals and anthologies. She lives in Toronto, where she works in the non-profit sector.

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"Gillian Savigny's source of inspiration may have been Darwin's words, but the intelligence and imagination here are all her own. Whether illuminating Darwin's subtext, adeptly ventriloquizing his childhood reminiscences, or making her own bold way into the mysteries of 'M,' she is eloquent and utterly surprising. This isn't just a book, it's a feat, and it's a marvellous one." —Stephanie Bolster, author of White Stone, The Alice Poems, and Two Bowls of Milk "Reading Gillian Savigny's poetry is like discovering a species with a deep, enthralling call. Its origins are ancient, but it's adapted to a world in flux. Notebook M is more than a poetic study of Chales Darwin. Like Darwin's exploits, these poems are worldly and adventurous; they are proof that the language of poetry is still living, thriving, and evolving." —Paul Vermeersch, author of Between the Walls and The Reinvention of the Human Hand