Whazzat? Format: Trade Paperback

Whazzat? explores how poetry invites us to look at things differently, with a sense of surprise, a whazzat. It looks at paradoxes we meet in life, and ways of resolving them through shifts of perspective. Poems cluster in four sections around paradoxes in different parts of our lives. Can we square the sheer unpredictability of events – especially with climate change – with our recurring need for certainty? Can we revitalize downtown cores without losing a sense of our past? In our personal lives, can we see unavoidable paradoxes as “ gifts” that heighten our sense of wonder, rather than threatening to divide us in two? Is there a “ now” we can live in, or do we inevitably live in our pasts and imagined futures? A number of poems have been previously published in literary magazines and anthologies across Canada, the U.K. and the U.S.A. This collection draws them together.

Roger Nash is a past-President of the League of Canadian Poets, and inaugural Poet Laureate of Sudbury. As President of the League, he worked with Senator Jerry Grafstein to create the Parliamentary Canadian Poet Laureate position in Ottawa. He’ s published nineteen books of poetry, short fiction and philosophy. Literary awards include: the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Poetry, the PEN/O.Henry Prize Story Award, the Confederation Poets Award (twice), and first prizes in poetry contests with Prism international and The Fiddlehead.