In her seventh book of poetry, Evelyn Lau digs up her deepest fears to unearth the universal hope we all have — of a life that matters. Tumour's power lies in Lau's ability to talk about the things we don't like to talk about, the things we avoid with lotions and potions and self-medication. Tumour compels sober self-reflection and shining light into the corners of the mind. In the book's first part, Lau roots through the forces of life that shaped her — the family legacy, the cultural inheritance. The second part parses how these histories sculpt the present. The rose-coloured glasses of youth are replaced with the lenses of middle age, which sharpen the world's edges. With trenchant observations and unparalleled imagery, Tumour/strong showcases Lau at the top of her craft.

Evelyn Lau has been publishing poetry and prose since she was thirteen. Now eighteen, she has her poetry appear in Prism International, Queen's Quarterly and Canadian Author and Bookman, among other literary magazines. Her prose has been published in MacLean's, Vancouver Magazine and The Antigonish Review. And she has won six awards for her poetry.

For two years, Evelyn lived on "the streets" in a world of drugs and prostitution recording these experiences in a journal. She left the streets in 1988 at the age of seventeen and extracts from this journal became the best-selling Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, which stayed on bestseller lists across Canada for months.

Evelyn is now a freelance writer for the Province and the Globe and Mail as well as working on a collection of short stories. She lives in Vancouver.

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