The Hardness of Matter and Water
$12.99 – $17.95
Publication Date: September 1, 2018
104 pages
8.5 x 5.5 Inches
ISBN: 9781550655094
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Trade Paperback $17.95 |
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Ebook $12.99 |
The Hardness of Matter and Water fulfills a poetic odyssey Québécois poet Pierre Nepveu began over four decades ago. Through a sequence of four prose poems, his anonymous protagonist walks from the heart of present-day Montreal into its southwestern margins, where the metropolis began centuries ago and which now “lays out its memories on the young grass.” Questioning his sense of belonging, social unease and mortality as he walks, and following “a shadowy voice that neither sings nor speaks,” Nepveu transports readers across wide spans of history, geography, metaphysics and speculation.
A 2016 finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry in French, rendered in English by award-winning translator Donald Winkler, The Hardness of Matter and Water is poetry at its meditative, insightful best.
Reviews
“Donald Winkler’s elegant translation captures Nepveu’s skilful use of language, alluring tempo, and introspective imagery…” Kenneth W. Meadwell, Canadian Literature
About the Author
Pierre Nepveu is a Montreal critic, essayist, poet and teacher. He has received the Governor General’s Award three times-in 1997 for the collection of poems Romans-fleuves, in 1998 for the essay Intérieurs du Nouveau Monde, and in 2003 for Lignes Aériennes. His many other awards include the Québec-Paris Prize, the Prix Victor-Barbeau de l’Académie des lettres du Québec, and the Canada-Swiss Prize. Pierre Nepveu has taught in the Département d’études françaises at the Université de Montréal since 1978.
Donald Winkler is a Montreal-based literary translator of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. He is a three-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for French to English translation, most recently for Pierre Nepveu’s The Major Verbs in 2013.
Other books by Pierre Nepveu: Mirabel, The Major Verbs, The Four-Doored House
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