Beyond Borders

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This anthology brings together 12 writers from remote regions of the U.S. with an equal number from the Canadian wilderness. Fiction and essays are included, but the emphasis is heavily on poetry. While some pieces were obviously chosen for their focus on a specific locale, the most memorable works do little to enlarge the collection's flimsy premise. Anne Szumigalski's prose poem about a boy who tries to capture his lost mother in a drawing of a dove is haunting and notable. Carol Bly's essay deflating the new myth of male initiation is particularly fascinating in light of the attention her ex-husband Robert Bly has received for Iron John. Regardless what state, province or country they hail from, these writers offer a shared sense of that small-town, farm or prairie landscape where everyone knows everyone, as in Robert King's poem: ``I could be traveling anywhere with this illusion / I am alone, tracing the latitudes of neighbors.'' Interesting as a bit of ephemera, this volume is unlikely to attract a larger readership for its contributors. Vinz co-edited Common Ground ; Williamson is a Canadian editor and writer. (Aug.)