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The House You Were Born In |
eBook Available
A stunning debut by a promising new poetic voice, haunting and uplifting in equal measure.
a keeper of things forgotten, a vase / for pictures made by words, a riverbed / for the stories you tell, an earthen silhouette / of a child
With vivid imagery and endless compassion for her subjects, Tanya Standish McIntyre’s words breathe life. Her richly lyrical phrases capture both the fear and the beauty of growing up in a rural working-class community, anchored by the magical bond between a young girl and her grandfather.
Way’s Mills, Quebec, is the setting for these poems, although as with Mark Twain’s Mississippi, physical place becomes a place in the heart in this elegy for lost ancestral farms. Standish McIntyre gives voice to the unspoken, shining a light into the dark corners of our collective memory to reveal an indelible past that gleams with clarity, empathy, and humanity. Taking seed in the dilapidated barns and warm sunlit rooms of Standish McIntyre’s personal history, these poems weave a filigree of well-worn remembrances and time-honoured treaties of the self, half forgotten yet ever lingering.
Lucid, sharp, and crisp as spring water, this collection holds a sweeping narrative power that will stay with you long after the last line.
With vivid imagery and endless compassion for her subjects, Tanya Standish McIntyre’s words breathe life. Her richly lyrical phrases capture both the fear and the beauty of growing up in a rural working-class community, anchored by the magical bond between a young girl and her grandfather.
Way’s Mills, Quebec, is the setting for these poems, although as with Mark Twain’s Mississippi, physical place becomes a place in the heart in this elegy for lost ancestral farms. Standish McIntyre gives voice to the unspoken, shining a light into the dark corners of our collective memory to reveal an indelible past that gleams with clarity, empathy, and humanity. Taking seed in the dilapidated barns and warm sunlit rooms of Standish McIntyre’s personal history, these poems weave a filigree of well-worn remembrances and time-honoured treaties of the self, half forgotten yet ever lingering.
Lucid, sharp, and crisp as spring water, this collection holds a sweeping narrative power that will stay with you long after the last line.
Details
Part of the Hugh MacLennan Poetry Series (number 73 in series)
120 Pages, 5 x 7.5
ISBN 9780228014645
December 2022
Formats: Paperback, eBook
“With gorgeous imagery and endless compassion for her subjects, Tanya Standish McIntyre captures both the fear and the beauty of growing up in a rural working-class community.” Carolyn Rowell, TILT Writer’s Cooperative
“Barns and sheds, old chesterfields, pond ice, damselflies, graveyards and ghosts - rarely have these words been so evocative, so glorious. From Quebec’s Eastern Townships comes an arresting new voice.” Shelley Pomerance, arts journalist
“Lucid, sharp, and crisp as spring water, calling to mind Dillard in an arching narrative.” David Gow, award-winning Canadian playwright
“Tanya Standish McIntyre is ‘a keeper of things forgotten.’ A haunting debut collection.” Louise Abbott, author of The Heart of the Farm
“Explorations of family and consciousness carve a sure path through the tangled thickets of the past in The House You Were Born In, allowing Quebec’s Eastern Townships to emerge not just as backdrop but as character. Each trenchant, graceful poem illuminates a time and a place, as though a light shone from behind memory.” Mark Abley, author of The Tongues of Earth
“Barns and sheds, old chesterfields, pond ice, damselflies, graveyards and ghosts - rarely have these words been so evocative, so glorious. From Quebec’s Eastern Townships comes an arresting new voice.” Shelley Pomerance, arts journalist
“Lucid, sharp, and crisp as spring water, calling to mind Dillard in an arching narrative.” David Gow, award-winning Canadian playwright
“Tanya Standish McIntyre is ‘a keeper of things forgotten.’ A haunting debut collection.” Louise Abbott, author of The Heart of the Farm
“Explorations of family and consciousness carve a sure path through the tangled thickets of the past in The House You Were Born In, allowing Quebec’s Eastern Townships to emerge not just as backdrop but as character. Each trenchant, graceful poem illuminates a time and a place, as though a light shone from behind memory.” Mark Abley, author of The Tongues of Earth
Tanya Standish McIntyre is a poet and visual artist living in Stanstead, Quebec.
Ebony Jewelwing 3
The House 4
View West 5
Wedding Pictures 6
One Body 8
Afternoons 10
Black Raspberries 12
Les Fruits 14
Vernacular 16
Subject Matter 17
Sugaring 20
Red Tractor 21
Hedgerow 22
The Copse 24
The Placeholders 26
Silver-Plate 27
Down by the Culvert 28
Elm and Vine 30
Bear River 31
The Buick 33
Fireside Folk Songs 34
Simple Hazards 36
Electric Light Storm 38
Nightly Prayer 40
The Spice Rack 41
Vernal 43
The Fair 45
Horses 48
Iron Lung 50
Story Girl 51
The Pond 53
The White Rock 54
Something 56
The Closet 57
Ghost Stories 59
The Three Sisters 61
Three Brothers 63
Susan 65
Mildred 67
Oak Stove 69
Dishes 71
Other Grandmother 73
Father Was a Miner 74
One for Fred 76
Juniper 77
Soundtrack 79
Eglantine 80
The Maples 81
Before and After the Cows 83
Floodlands 85
Sacrifice 86
If There Is a Heaven 88
Lord of the Elements 89
Garden 90
Dark Tide 92
Woman of the Fern 94
Confessions of a Farmer 95
Doorbell 97
Requiem 99
The Hawk 101
Cabin 103
Weathervane 104
Wintergreen 107
Notes 109
Acknowledgments 111
The House 4
View West 5
Wedding Pictures 6
One Body 8
Afternoons 10
Black Raspberries 12
Les Fruits 14
Vernacular 16
Subject Matter 17
Sugaring 20
Red Tractor 21
Hedgerow 22
The Copse 24
The Placeholders 26
Silver-Plate 27
Down by the Culvert 28
Elm and Vine 30
Bear River 31
The Buick 33
Fireside Folk Songs 34
Simple Hazards 36
Electric Light Storm 38
Nightly Prayer 40
The Spice Rack 41
Vernal 43
The Fair 45
Horses 48
Iron Lung 50
Story Girl 51
The Pond 53
The White Rock 54
Something 56
The Closet 57
Ghost Stories 59
The Three Sisters 61
Three Brothers 63
Susan 65
Mildred 67
Oak Stove 69
Dishes 71
Other Grandmother 73
Father Was a Miner 74
One for Fred 76
Juniper 77
Soundtrack 79
Eglantine 80
The Maples 81
Before and After the Cows 83
Floodlands 85
Sacrifice 86
If There Is a Heaven 88
Lord of the Elements 89
Garden 90
Dark Tide 92
Woman of the Fern 94
Confessions of a Farmer 95
Doorbell 97
Requiem 99
The Hawk 101
Cabin 103
Weathervane 104
Wintergreen 107
Notes 109
Acknowledgments 111
