Apology for Absence: Selected Poems 1962-1992 brings together the finest work of Canadian poet John Newlove. Spanning thirty years, this definitive volume draws from seven of Newlove's previous books of poetry and features a group of new, never-before-published poems.

Few poets have fused the lyrical and documentary modes more perfectly than John Newlove. One moment he is the delicate lyricist, improving upon themes of love, beauty and loss. The next moment, he is the archivist of human consciousness, documenting the unspoken atrocities of Canadian history. Margaret Atwood has called John Newlove a 'master builder.' According to Frank Davey, his style is 'one of the most direct and visually precise in twentieth-century poetry.' This collection represents the full range of Newlove's oeuvre, from the tender 'For Judith, Now About Ten Years Old' to the satiric 'Indian Women', from the concretely-rendered 'The Fat Man' to the visionary 'Ride Off Any Horizon'. John Newlove was one of the first poets to hold a mirror up to Canada's treatment of its Native peoples. Here are found such remarkable Native poems as 'Crazy Riel' and 'The Pride'.

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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