Literary Nonfiction. Cross-Genre. This delectable book collects the rococo prose of Lisa Robertson, the ambulatory Office for Soft Architecture. There are essays--many originally published as catalogue texts by art galleries--on the syntax of the suburban home, Vancouver fountains, Value Village, the joy of synthetics, scaffolding and the persistence of the Himalayan blackberry. There are also seven Walks, tours of Vancouver sites--poetic dioramas, really, and more material than cement could ever be. SOFT ARCHITECTURE exists at the crossroads of poetry, theory, urban geography and cultural criticism, some place where the quotidian and the metaphysical marry and invert. And it makes for one of the most intriguing books you'll ever read. Originally published by Clear Cut Press in 2004, this revised edition features a foreword and new material.

Author City: Béthines FRA

Lisa Robertson's books of poetry include XECLOGUE, DEBBIE: AN EPIC (nominated for the Governor General's Award for Poetry in 1998), THE WEATHER (winner of the Relit Award for Poetry in 2002), THE MEN and LISA ROBERTSON'S MAGENTA SOUL WHIP. University of California Press published Rousseau's Boat in Spring 2010. Lisa Robertson lives in the Vienne region of France. Her most recent book is the essay collection NILLING: PROSE from BookThug.

Reviews and Other Links
Robertson @ PennSound
Robertson lecture & reading vids @ Mind Online
Joyelle McSweeney @ the Constant Critic
Rachel Johndrow @ Seven Oaks
Susan Briante @ Jacket