Deriving

By Jennifer Bowering Delisle

Deriving is a feminist exploration of the creation of life, of family, and of words themselves. Delisle asks: How does past infertility colour the experience of new motherhood? How do historical voices echo in the present? How does language impact our ways of being in the world? These poems embrace the rich material of mothering with unapologetic honesty, confronting the experiences that some would keep hidden. Fear, anger, envy mix with joy and ultimately hope, as Delisle considers the challenges of conceiving and raising children in both familial and global contexts. Deriving is a poignant, lyrical meditation on longing, place, and embodiment.

I watched it freeze up,
rafts of white snagging beneath the bridge,
frazil ice,
pans linked along the shoreline.
Inside me my son was building
white fat on bone.
- from “North Saskatchewan”

• Language: English
• Publisher: The University of Alberta Press
• Release date: Apr 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781772125641

Jennifer Bowering Delisle

Jennifer Bowering Delisle is the author of a poetry collection, Deriving (2021) and a lyric family memoir, The Bosun Chair (2017). She has a PhD in English and frequently teaches creative writing classes and workshops. She is also a board member of NeWest Press. She lives in Edmonton/Amiskwaciwâskahikan/Treaty 6 where she is an instructional designer and a mother of two. Find her online @JenBDelisle and www.jenniferdelisle.ca.

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