In this collection of poems written in English and French parallel versions, Inge Israel evokes the life and work of Russian-born painter Chaim Soutine. Living and starving alongside his artist friends Modigliani, Chagall, Lipschitz and others on the Left Bank in the 1920s, Soutine was acclaimed by them as the expressionist par excellence.

These poems penetrate his haunting yet strangely life-affirming work, reflecting the wildness, ecstasy and despair of the human condition. Includedare eight colour reproductions of Soutine's paintings.

Born in Frankfurt of Russo-Polish parents, Inge Israel spent her childhood and adolescence mostly in Paris and Dublin. In Canada since 1958, she makes her permanent home in Edmonton, while continuing to travel widely and spending extended periods of time in Dublin, Paris, Cambridge and other places. Fluent in four languages Israel has written extensively for radio; her work has been broadcast by the BBC and CBC French and English Networks. A six-months’ stay in Japan inspired Raking Zen Furrows (Ronsdale, 1991), her fourth book of poetry and her first in English. Also published by Ronsdale Press are Unmarked Doors (1992) and Rifts in the Visible, her seventh book.

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