Myth - by Terese Mason Pierre (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Myth, the much-anticipated debut collection from the multi-talented Terese Mason Pierre, weaves between worlds ('real' and 'imaginary') unearthing the unsettling: our jaded and joyful relationships to land, ancestry, trauma, self, and future. In three movements and two interludes, the poems in Myth move symphonically from tropical islands to barren cities, from lucid dreams to the mysteries of reality, from the sea to the cosmos. A dynamic mix of speculative poetry and ecstatic lyricism, the otherworldly and the sublime, Pierre's poems never stray too long or too far from the spell of unspoiled nature: "The palm trees nod / at the ocean / the ocean does / what it always does / trusts the moon completely."

Friends 'with benefits' tour the wonders of Grenada's landscapes; extraterrestrials visit the Caribbean and the locals don't seem phased; red birds "saunter airily like tourists," La Diablesse lures helpless suitors to their dooms. This collection asks: How can myths manifest themselves in our daily lives? What do we actually mean when we say we love ourselves and others? And how do we pursue/create futures that honour our truths, histories and legacies?

Review Quotes

"Myth does not just remember, but re-members, putting a memory back together limb by limb and stretching back ancestrally while speculating about a future in which we all are held, considered and loved." -- The Grind

"These invisible connective structures from the tangible practical world of magic, devil, gods and myth do something, fulfil something, cross a gap of ache in a broken world. Such world-building in poetry permits a larger canvas than the obvious and given." -- The Miramichi Reader

"Through the magic of her words, Myth explores our relationships to land, trauma, self, ancestry and the future-- and asks how myths can manifest themselves in our everyday lives." -- Canadian Living

"A startling, transformative collection." -- Winnipeg Free Press

"What distinguishes Myth is not only its formal inventiveness, but its philosophical reach ... A sustained inquiry into how we come to know ourselves through distance--temporal, emotional, and otherwise." -- The Seaboard Review

"These are poems as foundational as the earth or the ocean, offering sharp and astute first-person observational, declarative and descriptive lyrics ... Myth is a striking and deeply complex debut." -- rob mclennan's blog