Paris, the City of Light, inspires the entire world –– especially the poets of Quebec. In this anthology, superbly translated by Stephen Scobie and Marie Vautier, Québécois poets explore the splendours, mysteries and secrets of Paris. This ancient centre of culture, the capital city of their ancestors, the settlers of New France, puts the poets in touch with the source of their vibrant art. Paris speaks to Québéc’s greatest poets in their own language and they in turn celebrate this city of beauty and of art. Edited by Claudine Bertrand and illustrated with atmospheric black-and-white photography, this anthology makes a wonderful introduction to contemporary Québécois poetry and an intriguing exploration of one of the world’s favourite cities.

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Stephen Scobie
Born in Scotland, Stephen Scobie is a critic and a poet who won the Governor General’s Award for Poetry in 1980 and the Prix Gabrielle Roy for Canadian Criticism in 1986. A founding editor of Longspoon Press, his literary criticism includes books on bpNichol, Leonard Cohen, Sheila Watson and Bob Dylan. His first book of poetry, Stone Poems, was published by Talonbooks in 1974. His critical work bpNichol: What History Teaches, published in 1984 is part of the Talonbooks New Canadian Criticism Series, edited by Frank Davey.

Frank Davey
Born in Vancouver, Frank Davey attended the University of British Columbia where he was a co-founder of the avant-garde poetry magazine TISH. Since 1963, he has been the editor-publisher of the poetics journal Open Letter. In addition, he co-founded the world’s first on-line literary magazine, SwiftCurrent in 1984. Davey writes with a unique panache as he examines with humour and irony the ambiguous play of signs in contemporary culture, the popular stories that lie behind it, and the struggles between different identity-based groups in our globalizing society?racial, regional, gender-based, ethnic, economic?that drive this play.

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Marie Vautier is Associate Professor of comparative Canadian literature, Québécois literature and literary theory at the University of Victoria.

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Miles Lowry has been exhibiting paintings and sculptures in solo and group exhibitions since 1981. He is best known for his life-size sculptures and fragments, which explore the idea of the body as an expressive canvas. A self-trained artist, his works are seen in a wide variety of exhibitions, publications and performances. He lives in Victoria, B.C.

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