This text presents the work of over seventy writers. Spanning almost two centuries, it reveals a fascinating range of cultural backgrounds, temperaments, and styles. The historical perspective makes it possible to trace a remarkable evolution not only in the concerns that Canadian women have addressed in poetry, but also in the craft with which they have done so. Above all, this anthology acts as a reminder that behind the rich contemporary generation is a long cumulative tradition of women poets who have cleared the way.

ROSEMARY SULLIVAN is an acclaimed biographer, poet and editor. She is the author of nine books of non-fiction, including Villa Air-Bel, which was awarded a Canadian Jewish Book Award; Labyrinth Of Desire: Women, Passion and Romantic Obsession; By Heart: Elizabeth Smart—A Life and the #1 bestseller The Red Shoes: Margaret Atwood, Starting Out. Her biography of Gwendolyn MacEwen, Shadow Maker, won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-fiction, the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award, the Toronto Book Award and the University of British Columbia Medal for Canadian Biography. Sullivan’s journalistic pieces have won her a National Magazine Awards silver medal and a Western Journalism first prize for travelogue; her academic honours include Killam, Trudeau and Guggenheim fellowships. She lives in Toronto, where she is a professor of English at the University of Toronto.

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