I Am Here and Not Not-There
Margaret Avison was a highly regarded Canadian poet who saw poetry as her life's vocation but shied away from being publicly labelled a poet. She has been called reclusive, introspective; her poetry difficult and demanding. And yet, as shown by her enigmatically titled autobiography, "I am Here and Not Not-There," she was also a woman with a lively curiosity and a real love for the world.'
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This week I received a large package in the mail. I opened it to find the 352-page volume "I Am Here And Not Not-There: An Autobiography". It is the autobiography of Margaret Avison -- the exceptional Canadian poet who passed away on July 31, 2007. Not only is Margaret Avison one of the most celebrated poets Canada has ever had -- having won the Governor General's Award for poetry in 1960 and 1990, and the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2003 -- but she participated with The Word Guild by twice contributing to the Write! Toronto conference, and by being the winner of the Leslie K. Tarr Career Achievement Award in 2005. I am not writing of this book, so much, to encourage you to buy it -- unless you are a long-time fan of Avison -- but primarily to point out the weight of her contribution. Sarah Klassen once wrote in "Prairie Fire", It is Avison's unique accomplishment to write, in and for a secular world, about faith and God, with intelligence and without becoming either sentimental or preachy.'' Surprisingly, it is the secular literary community -- not the church -- that has most valued Avison's legacy. I think it's high time that we begin to celebrate Margaret Avison!'--D. S. Martin "twgauthors.blogspot.com "
A high-school teacher once told a young Margaret Avison to eschew the first person singular in her writing for 10 years. It was a directive the naturally withdrawn Avison readily took to heart. Nevertheless, the quintessential Canadian literary question is Alice Munro's: Who do you think you are?'' It is a question an older Avison consistently demands of herself in this posthumously published autobiography.'--Zachariah Wells "Quill & Quire "
