Representing over 20 years of Frances Itani’s remarkablewriting, Poached Egg On Toast gathers her best work, plus sevennew stories, instantly revealing why she is among the top ranks of contemporaryfiction writers. Combining precise, subtle observation with a clear andunflinching eye for the human condition, this collection moves through manylocales—from a Quebec village to Bosnia, Japan and Austria. Wickedly funny,unbearably sad, these stories leave us with a renewed sense of humanity.

Besides her two previous books of poetry (No Other Lodgings, Fiddlehead, 1978 and Rentee Bay, Quarry, 1983), Frances Itani has published a children's book and co-authored a book of short stories. More recently, Frances Itani, a Member of the Order of Canada, had a spectacular international debut with her first novel, Deafening, which received a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book (Canada and Caribbean Region) and was shortlisted for the 2005 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; it was a #1 bestseller in Canada. Her second novel, Remembering The Bones, was shortlisted for a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Itani’s short story collection, Poached Egg On Toast, won the 2005 Ottawa Book Award and the 2005 CAA Jubilee Award for Short Stories. Itani lives in Ottawa.

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