In a portrait-gallery of poems, Richard Lemm considers everything from the history of war in the United States to an undertakers' convention in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. History, war and a search for understanding thread through this collection, in poems that have wild, dynamic imagery and a strong emotional resonance.

Richard Lemm (1946) grew up in Seattle, Washington, came to Canada in 1967, and moved to Prince Edward Island in 1983. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Prince Edward Island. From 1977 to 1987, he was a faculty member at the Banff School of Fine Arts, and he is a past president of the League of Canadian Poets. Prelude to the Bacchanal (1990) won the Canadian Authors#&39; Association Award for poetry. Lemm was literary editor at Ragweed Press for three years, and he is the author of the biography Milton Acorn: In Love and Anger (1999).

Richard Lemm's profile page

"This is a rich and cohesive collection that treats heroism in many forms and guises without apology and with much exuberance and good humour. Lemm has an ear for cadence and by drawing allusions from social culture and history he creates a resonant verse that bursts with energy and personality." - Prairie Fire Review of Books

"It's important to stress that gloom does not dominate this book. There are poems of sorrow and loss, certainly, but Lemm's recollections are kindled with moments of humour and with magic as in his haunting 'Hendrix of Arabia,' about the rebirth of a rebellious spirit of defiance and doubt that has shown up among troops throughout history." - Malahat Review

"Burning House leaves the reader with a yearning for more of Lemm's undeniably masculine poetic voice.... It is his frankness and refusal to romanticize the key moments in his poems that allows his verse to take on sensuousness that is as authentic as it is provocative." - Canadian Literature