Description
Through the prism of a marginal child puzzled about her true identity, The Cuckoo's Song/Le chant du coucou, a collection of 63 poems in English and French, adds vivid flourishes to the drab canvas of the Great Depression and celebrates the indomitable spirit of the men and women who joined the Gold Rush to Val d'Or in Northwestern Québec, in the 1930s and '40s. The community they carved in the wilderness of the Canadian Shield, diverse and inclusive, their struggles, their joie de vivre--filaments of gold in the poet's memory.
About the author
Jacqueline Borowick was born in Montréal but moved with her parents to Val d'Or, Québec during the Great Depression. After her marriage, she moved to Toronto and has resided in Ontario ever since. She was the first presiding bilingual Justice of the Peace in Toronto from 1982-1997. Her award-winning poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals, including Room of One's Own (2003), Myth Weavers: Canadian Myths and Legends (Serengeti Press 2007), Butterfly Thunder (Beret Days 2007), Enchanted Crossroads (Beret Days 2006), and Wordscape Seven (MTB Press, 2001). Four of her poems, published in Cherish Her Heritage: Recueil bilingue de poésie (HMS Press 2004), were awarded prizes including a first, in both English and French.The Cuckoo's Song/Le chant du coucou is her first published volume of poetry. She is currently living in Toronto.