Poetry. The poems in THIS WAY are an alternative take on the genre of detective fiction. In them we uncover an assortment of clues and the task of sorting out the essential from the superfluous; the real from the imagined; the inside from the out. As in our daily lives, in spite of all the "evidence," there is no familiar sense of direction.

"Downe's writing uses the qualities of colloquial speech—hesitation, interjection, digression and repetition—to convey the experience of writing as an unforseen progression. Favouring intuitive progress over linear intention, these vivid, painterly poems reflect the dynamic between the known and the unknown."—Darren Werschler

Author City: TORONTO, ON CAN

Lise Downe grew up in London, Ontario, where she experienced the art of Londoners Greg Curnoe, Jack Chambers, and Patterson Ewen, among others. After completing a major in printmaking at the Beal Art Annex, she then spent a year in England studying sculpture. On her return to Canada she painted for many years before turning her hand to writing, and later, to studying jewelery at George Brown College and OCAD. She has published four books of poetry—A Velvet Increase of Curiosity, The Soft Signature, DISTURBANCES OF PROGRESS, and THIS WAY. She has exhibited her art and jewelery in Toronto and across Canada. Lise lives in Toronto, where she continues to write and make jewelery and other small sculptures.