Pulse (First Edition)

Rajinderpal S. Pal’s first, acclaimed collection, pappaji wrote poetry in a language i cannot read, was an exploration, a search not only for a place in the world, but for a sense of one’s self.

Pulse is a collection of love poems, about the sharing of stories and the sharing of that discovered self. Pal writes about those moments in our lives that we first cling to, then draw from as “we strive for fabric and texture” in our lives. With echoes of Michael Ondaatje, Pal’s magical, ringing voice sings intimate. These are sensual poems, explorations of “the pulse in fingertips,” and Pulse, the book, is a mature, sophisticated collection of poetry from one of Canada’s truest writers.

From Pulse:
to begin to describe
every ridge of vertebra
the soft hair that lined them
shadow of window-blinds imposed on her body
the strain and the arch
the restrain the push
the skin and teeth
how we would braid and unbraid

About Pulse:

“The excellence in this book is how it deftly operates between the personal and the national, between how people live their day-to-day lives in the systems in which they live them.”—Calgary Herald

“Pal’s strengths come from the undercurrents going through the work, the tensions just under the surface. He writes smooth and evocative poems with the illusion of calm and the deceptive ease of one who knows very well what he is doing.”—The Globe & Mail

Rajinderpal S. Pal won the Henry Kreisel Award for pappaji wrote poetry in a language i cannot read and Pulse was shortlisted for both the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry and the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize. He has participated in international arts festivals such as ArtWallah, has published in literary magazines throughout North America, and is in translation in Brazil and Portugal. He lives in Calgary.

Rajinderpal S. Pal was named "Best Local Author, 2001" by the readers of Calgary?s Fast Forward magazine. He also won the Henry Kreisel Award for Best First Book for his critically-acclaimed poetry collection pappaji wrote poetry in a language i cannot read, which spent six weeks on the Calgary Herald bestseller list. He won the Calgary semi-finals of the CBC Radio Poetry-Face Off in 2003. Pulse has been nominated for both the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry (an Albert Book Award) and the W.O. Mitchell Book Prize from the City of Calgary. The former president of Calgary?s Sage Theatre and former managing editor of filling Station magazine, he is presently on the Board of Directors of the Calgary Folk Fest and the Arts and Culture Committee of Calgary Foundation. He has participated in international arts festivals such as ArtWallah. Rajinderpal has published in literary magazines throughout North America, and is in translation in Brazil and Portugal.