Relative to Wind: On Sailing, Craft, and Community

A lingering, long-haul collection of writing about sailing for readers of Julietta Singh and Kyo Maclear.

In Relative to Wind, Phoebe Wang delivers a poetic rendering of her decade-long journey of learning to sail and a deep dive into what it means to be a newcomer to an old tradition. From working along­side crewmates in tempestuous conditions to becoming an avid racer and organizer to drafting a wistful love letter to a Wayfarer dinghy—while examining the loose tether between sailing and a creative life—Wang delivers a book for sailors and would-be sailors that is thoughtful and surprising at every tack.

"A thoughtful, illuminating look at life away from land."—Kirkus

Phoebe Wang is a first-generation Chinese-Canadian who lives and sails in Toronto, Canada. She is the author of the poetry collections Admission Requirements (M&S, 2017), shortlisted for the Gerald Lambert Memorial Award, the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and the Trillium Book Award, and Waking Occupations (M&S, 2022), and her fiction and nonfiction have been widely published. She is an adjunct professor and mentor in the University of Toronto Creative Writing MA program.