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ISBN: 978-1-926794-05-1
5.5 x 8.5 paperback
$18 CDN

The sense of wilderness, the body out of control, is described in vivid detail in Cynthia Woodman Kerkham’s debut poetry collection. From sailing in the uncertain waves of the Pacific, to a cancer diagnosis, Good Holding Ground examines our place in nature and negotiates the varied relationships that have a powerful hold on us. These poems are at once personal and a testament to our times. With painterly and precise language, they investigate the landscape of marriage and family and explore our ambivalence, gratitude, and desire.


BOOK BLURB:

“Reading Good Holding Ground is like entering a lush and sensuous garden filled with fruit and flowers, animals and birds, bodies and sex, a garden at once in splendid bloom and in the process of decay. In thrall to the sounds and shapes of things, Kerkham crafts her words with exquisite precision. Yes, she says, there is regret and sickness and death but there is also healing and love and compassion. By turns, tough, tender, elegant and disturbing, these spirited poems address the complicated business of being human. A debut collection well worth the wait.” —Patricia Young