Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 481 4 M Q U P S P R I N G 2 0 1 7 A lapsed religion still emits / faint signals; God, / in his satellite dish, / groans / moving on. To seek belonging, to strain against the familiar – these are the polarities many of us live between, feeling the pull of each desire. Offering a particular history, an intimate vantage point from within the various kingdoms we inhabit, Julie Paul’s The Rules of the Kingdom is an exploration of this struggle on a per- sonal level and a universal one. Broken into five sections, the book examines the human struggle to find meaning, comfort, and a sense of home. In “Settlers’ Descendant Reclaims the Past,” the poems consider rural life, both the specific and the collective, in- cluding a village’s destruction by fire. In “Weight of the Word” the focus turns to family of origin, religion, and rites of passage. Poems take a familial tack again in “Cleavage,” wherein Paul dives into the waters of motherhood, and they drift into further intimacy in “The World’s Smallest Republic,” a series of poems about sex, love, and marriage. Finally, the poems in the fifth section, “Next Time the World Will Burn,” explore our place in the twenty-first century and offer some idiosyncratic suggestions on how to live. At turns humorous, playful, contemplative, and coy, the poems in The Rules of the Kingdom question the vagaries of faith and family but ultimately celebrate life and love. Julie Paul is the author of the short story collections The Jealousy Bone and The Pull of the Moon. She lives in Victoria, bc. At times apocalyptic and other times passionate and intimate, Eleonore Schönmaier’s poems show the beauty of the lived and natural world in both wilderness and urban settings. A woman hides her love letters in beehives, a cherry tree in full blossom is transported horizontally on a bike, and three crows tap their beaks on a metal door. A grandmother gestures how birds once flew in blue skies, public smiles are outlawed, and a shot-down jet lands in a field of wildflowers. Men from warm countries wear big coats and are falsely suspected of hiding bombs, an Indigenous man is forced by police into the trunk of a car, and a stork lands in prison under charges of espionage. In Canada, the northern village of Paradise is under evacuation orders, and in Europe Desmond Tutu steps down from a podium into a crowd of photographers. Over a Belgian lunch Frederic Rzewski talks about his piano concerto A Dog’s Life, and a Dutch dinner is shared with a young refugee boy who laughs joyously. Reflecting a childhood in the northern Canadian boreal forest, combined with an adult life lived without borders, Eleonore Schönmaier’s vivid and sensual language invites the reader to fully join in and enjoy the journey. Praise for Eleonore Schönmaier’s Wavelengths of Your Song “This collection could be enjoyed for the beauty of the language alone.” Arc Poetry Eleonore Schönmaier is the award-winning author of Wavelengths of Your Song. She divides her time between Canada and the Netherlands. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S The Hugh MacLennan Poetry Series April 2017 978-0-7735-4899-2 $16.95T CDN, $16.95T US, £14.99 paper 5 x 7.5 132pp eBook available P O E T R Y S P E C I F I C AT I O N S The Hugh MacLennan Poetry Series April 2017 978-0-7735-5013-1 $16.95T CDN, $16.95T US, £14.99 paper 5 x 7.5 152pp eBook available P O E T R Y Dust Blown Side of the Journey eleonore schönmaier Global migrations and music create a symphonic journey where nature ignites wildfires and love fully lived. The Rules of the Kingdom julie paul Warm-blooded, curious, and playful, these poems hunt for meaning in history, home, and family.