A gritty, original collection on a subject rarely addressed: the surprising affinities between crime and poetry. To gather material for a mystery novel, Landale accompanied RCMP officers on patrol. In Once a Murderer, the novel's protagonist has stepped out of prose fiction into poetry that is consuming and seductive. A running subversive commentary on love, crime and poetry appears in the margins, giving depth and flesh to the voices.

Zoe Landale, a former President of the Federation of B.C. Writers, has won a number of awards for her work, including National Magazine Gold. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies throughout Canada and the U.S. She lives in Ladner, BC.

Zoë Landale's profile page

"Overall, Landale's intertwining of personal lives with their linguistic construction is simultaneously harrowing and fascinating; reading Once makes it clear why she won the poetry prize for the CBC literary competition." - Journal of Canadian Poetry

"In the collection's best poems, Landale links crime and illicit sex — intimacy and guilt — also bond cop and perp; interrogation and seduction are both forms of manipulation." - The Toronto Star

"Zoë Landale teaches writing at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. This book of poetry, a response to the violence around us, draws on her experiences accompanying RCMP officers on patrol. Poem titles include 'Ways to Identify Bad Guys,' 'Ways to Catch a Murderer,' 'How to Kill a Cop' and 'How to Kill a Civilian'." - The Vancouver Sun