Wattle and Daub Books proudly announces a new collection of poetry by Tri-City Author and Sculptor
Gloria Barkley
Water Window Mirror
Book launch and art display at the Arts Council of New Westminster*
Queens Park, New Westminster, BC
Queens Park, New Westminster, BC
Saturday, 26 October 2013
1-3 PM
How does a poet describe a state in which her senses can’t be trusted, when everything she sees and hears may be unreal? In these spare, unsettling poems, moving seamlessly between terror and unexpected beauty, Gloria Barkley draws us into that fractured, hallucinatory world. Line by line in stark, fragmented imagery she strips the experience to the bone.
—Eileen Kernaghan
Tales from the Holograph Woods
Water Window Mirror
has been a delight to produce. Gloria Barkley is a talented, good-humoured, wise
woman whose writing it is a privilege to bring to the
world.
l aughing
leaves
Water Window Mirror
Water Window Mirror
has been a delight to produce. Gloria Barkley is a talented, good-humoured, wise
woman whose writing it is a privilege to bring to the
world.
For twenty-two years, Gloria lived with allergy-induced
hallucinations, with all the fear, uncertainty, and confusion they produced.
Tables came to life, her own children seemed unreal, and yet she carried on,
living life with her trademark humour and grace.
She raised three children, cared for husband and home,
obtained a degree in art, and, luckily for us, discovered and developed her talent for writing.
These beautifully sculpted poems take us along with Gloria
through apparent mental illness through to a new, food additive- and
hallucination-free life.
Join us at the Arts Council of New Westminster gallery for the launch of Gloria’s new book. A number of her additive-inspired sculptures will be in attendance.
Look for Gloria's full art show this spring at the Arts Council gallery.
Mom of Mulch
Table
whispers
pause
admire
my ambience
perfume.
Eyes
caress
curves
buckled
bark
earth.
Bio
Born in 1926, Gloria Barkley spent her early years on her family's fruit and vegetable farm near Penticton, BC. She attended Vancouver School of Art, now Emily Carr University of Art and Design, from 1964 to 1968, and subsequently studied creative writing in various west coast colleges and universities.
Her poems have appeared in anthologies and magazines such as Event and Canadian Bookman. Her chapbook Stemwinder, featuring poetry, art, and anecdotes celebrating life in the mining town of Hedley, BC in the late 1930s, was published in 1995 by Wet Sickle Press.
Today, Gloria hand-builds clay spiders in her Coquitlam, BC studio. Each spider is named after a food additive.
Advance Praise for Water Window Mirror
These poems disturb and delight with their synesthetic surprise; quietly remind that the writing of a well-crafted little poem requires a long, arduous journey. Imagists’ poetry and Neruda’s Book of Questions come to mind. Thought provoking and invigorating, Barkley moves beyond arresting metaphor to visceral conflation. The sheer physicality, brutality, ironic beauty of Barkley’s language is her own.
Born in 1926, Gloria Barkley spent her early years on her family's fruit and vegetable farm near Penticton, BC. She attended Vancouver School of Art, now Emily Carr University of Art and Design, from 1964 to 1968, and subsequently studied creative writing in various west coast colleges and universities.
Her poems have appeared in anthologies and magazines such as Event and Canadian Bookman. Her chapbook Stemwinder, featuring poetry, art, and anecdotes celebrating life in the mining town of Hedley, BC in the late 1930s, was published in 1995 by Wet Sickle Press.
Today, Gloria hand-builds clay spiders in her Coquitlam, BC studio. Each spider is named after a food additive.
Advance Praise for Water Window Mirror
These poems disturb and delight with their synesthetic surprise; quietly remind that the writing of a well-crafted little poem requires a long, arduous journey. Imagists’ poetry and Neruda’s Book of Questions come to mind. Thought provoking and invigorating, Barkley moves beyond arresting metaphor to visceral conflation. The sheer physicality, brutality, ironic beauty of Barkley’s language is her own.
As a person who supports many
individuals with mental health issues, I very much appreciate how well Gloria
is able to describe her breaks with reality. Her struggles and subsequent
solution show there can be many reasons for mental disorder...Her
life has a lot to teach us. She’s an inspiration.
and founder, Living Room faith-based
mood disorder support
Poems by Gloria Barkley
$12.95
ISBN 978-0-9810658-4-7
Published by
Wattle and Daub Books
West Vancouver, BC
4890 The Dale, West Vancouver, B.C., Canada V7W 1K3
*The Arts Council Gallery is located in Queen’s Park, annexed to the
Centennial Lodge.
Entrance at 1st Street and 3rd Avenue or
McBride Boulevard at 6th Avenue. (604) 525-3244
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