Noted Canadian critic Frank Davey said that John Newlove had developed “one of the most direct and visually precise styles in twentieth-century poetry.” Here Newlove is at his finest in a collection of sharply honed, direct, and ruthlessly honest poems of intense feeling, observation, and involvement. Newlove writes from the perspective of a true craftsman who insists that the clarity of his vision be respected in every word he puts in print.

John Newlove was born in Regina in 1938, and raised in farming communities in Saskatchewan where his mother was a school teacher. His books of poetry include Elephants, Mothers & Others, Moving in Alone, Black Night Window, The Cave, Lies, The Green Plain and The Night the Dog Smiled. Lies (McClelland & Stewart, 1972) was awarded the Governor General`s Award for Poetry. His collection, The Night the Dog Smiled (ECW Press, 1986), was a finalist for the Governor General`s Award, as well as a British Columbia Book Prize. His poetry has been published in the United States, Mexico, England, Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Hungary, Italy, India and Australia. John Newlove died in 2003.

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"He is indeed a master builder. His versatility is impressive...his work is often a demonstration model of how it should be done." —Margaret Atwood, Second Words