With careful attention to detail, and evocative turns of phrase, Dave Margoshes introspectively looks back on youth. Intriguing metaphors, reminiscent of pastoral imagery, create a sharp contrast between the heavy subject matter of one's own mortality, and the beautiful, evocative comparisons between humanity and the rest of the animal kingdom, particularly birds and trees. Darwin's Theory of Evolution, is juxtaposed with the desire to give in to temptation, and become one with the world, as Margoshes makes most evident in his final poem, "Wisdom", a fitting end to a collection that would have the reader struggling between reconciling their past and present.
Dimensions of an Orchard, the last poetry collection by Dave Margoshes, won the Anne Szumigalski Poetry Prize at the 2010 Saskatchewan Book Awards. He's published four other books of poetry and over a dozen other books, including novels and short story collections. His poems have won a number of awards, including the inaugural Stephen Leacock Prize for Poetry, and have appeared widely in Canadian literary magazines and anthologies, including twice in the Best Canadian Poetry volumes. His Bix's Trumpet and Other Stories was the 2007 Saskatchewan Book of the Year and a ReLit Award finalist. His collection of linked short stories, A Book of Great Worth, also from Coteau Books, was named one of Amazon.ca's Top One Hundred Books of 2012. One of the stories from that collection was a finalist for the Journey Prize. Dave lives on a farm near Saskatoon.