The term still life did not come into being until 1650. The French adopted the term nature morte, dead nature, around 1750. The painter de Chirico was said to have preferred the Italian term vita silente. The Japanese, however, call still life, calm things. Calm Things is the title essay of this collection of meditations on what it is like to live with still life, and to live poetically. Both an insider's glimpse into the precarious world of artist and poet, and a long gaze at objects and the calm and silence they hold, these essays prize the ordinary, radiant gift of common things.

Shawna Lemay was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. Lemay earned a Bachelor of Arts in Honours English, and has just recently completed her Masters in Englishboth at the University of Alberta. Lemay lives in Edmonton with her husband, Rob Lemay who is a visual artist, and their daughter Chloe. She currently works for the Edmonton Public Library. Other works by Lemay include Still (selfpublished),Against Paradise (McClelland & Stewart), and All the GodSized Fruit (McGillQueens University Press)the winning title of the Gerald Lampert and Stephan G. Stephansson awards.

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