Two From Mother Tongue
The latest books of poetry published by Mother Tongue Publishing on Salt Spring Island are the broken boat by Daniela Elza and Disappearing Minglewood Blues by M.C. Warrior. Mother Tongue has published an abundance of poets through the years including some gorgeous anthologies such as Forcefield: 77 Women Poets of British Columbia (2013) edited by Susan Musgrave which I had the pleasure of reviewing for the Vancouver Sun. Have a look at Mother Tongue’s offerings including works of non-fiction such as the Unheralded Artists of BC Series as well as their books of fiction. All of the books can be requested from your local independent bookstore or directly from Mother Tongue Publishing.
the broken boat by Daniela Elza
Daniela Elza was to have been in Nanaimo in April to launch the broken boat (Mother Tongue Publishing, 2020), her fourth book of poetry. (How can you launch a broken boat you may ask?!) I was looking forward to hosting at the Harbourfront branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library, seeing Daniela and giving her a warm Nanaimo welcome. As Daniela’s readings were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she’s been doing interviews online as well as readings via Zoom. I was glad to attend her Planet Earth Poetry (PEP) reading on a recent Friday evening and to get the feel of hanging out with other poets as would usually happen on a Friday night in Victoria.
Daniela’s reading was beautiful as she read, moving her hands (as someone noted) through a selection of poems from the broken boat. She mentions hands in her poems too such as in “suddenly leaves”:
her hands warm
with a longing . . . .
Miranda Pearson describes the collection in her cover endorsement: “This brave […]