In Mary Cameron’s debut poetry collection she deftly redefines the relationship between visual art and the viewer’s heart. In quick brush strokes and near staccato stanzas, Cameron explores the multiple interpretations each image evokes, its random potential, crafting condensed lines that stress the music of her language above its narrative. Her eye sees unlikely pairings, juxtaposing objects to make links where before there was only dissonance. Adopting the role of curator/editor, Cameron finds form in each of the book’s four galleries: Madame Cezanne, Landscapes, Portraits and Lovers. For her "master" she takes Paul Cezanne, moving beyond the canvas to his strained relationship with his wife Hortense. In the shadow of the easel and his tormented genius, Cameron unveils a feminine strength rooted in nature and self- definition – a force, not unlike her own, novel, determined and fierce.

Mary Cameron is a former editor of both Quarry Magazine and Prism international, and has been published in The Fiddlehead, The Malahat Review, Arc, The New Quarterly, Poetry Canada, Dandelion, Grain, Prairie Fire and other literary journals. Her work has been anthologized in: The Last Word: An Insomniac Anthology of Canadian Poetry, A Discord of Flags: Canadian Poets Write About the Persian Gulf War and Altitude: 25 Years of Writing From The Banff Centre.

She received her Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and studied at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute in Colorado. She spent her childhood in Malaysia, Brazil and Vancouver and currently lives in Kingston, Ontario, with her husband and son. In Mary Cameron's debut poetry collection Clouds without Heaven she deftly redefines the relationship between visual art and the viewer's heart. In quick brush strokes and near staccato stanzas, Cameron explores the multiple interpretations each image evokes. With an ear adept at listening for the evocative muse of each work, she explores the painting's full potential. Delighting in the sound of the work on the page, Cameron crafts condensed lines which stress the music of her language above its narrative.

Her eye sees unlikely pairings, juxtaposing objects to make links where before there was only dissonance. Adopting the role of curator/editor, Cameron finds form in each of the book's four galleries: Madame Cezanne, Landscapes, Portraits and The Lovers. For her "master" she takes Paul Cezanne, moving beyond the canvas to his strained relationship with his wife Hortense. In the shadow of the easel and his tormented genius, Cameron unveils a feminine strength rooted in nature and self-definition-a force, not unlike her own, novel, determined and fierce.

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