Hawking the Surf
Published on 7. November 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
78 pages
978-1-77403-389-0 (ISBN)
Description
Diana Hayes has given us a mesmer, an exquisite, lyrical collection, poignant with the past of oceans, rocks, islands, the global environment.. Hayes writes as "fog falling beyond water," catching the reader off guard, drawing us in. Read this book and "savour (the) words slowly like it's a matter of survival." Myth is embodied in the particulars of place. She paints a "olfactory, tactile" world of colour that is both keenly observed and gloriously illustrated. Hayes steers us through heavy storms, her call for compassion permeating as we battle mortality in the search for meaning. Symbolism seeps through photos like "Bridging the White Water" and close ups of roses and dragonflies, musicality hooks readers, then transports them beyond words to mood and time. "
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Person
Diana Hayes currently resides on the traditional and unceded territory of the Coast Salish Hul'q'umi'num' and SEN¿O¿EN speaking people-what is known as Salt Spring Island BC. She was born in Toronto and has lived on the east and west coasts of Canada. She received her BA (UVIC) and MFA (UBC) in Creative Writing and has published seven books of poetry, most recently Labyrinth of Green (Plumleaf Press), Language of Light (House of Appleton), and Sapphire and the Hollow Bone (Ekstasis Editions) which was a finalist for the Sunshine Coast (SCWES) Poetry Award. Deeper Into the Forest, a spoken word/music CD, was produced at Allowed Sound Studio in 2020 with musician and sound engineer, Andy Meyers. She has been shortlisted for The Freefall Poetry Contest, the RCLAS Poetry Contest, The Delta Literary Arts Society Short Film Festival, Muriel's Journey Poetry Contest, and she won first place in the North Vancouver Writers' Association Poetry Contest. Her debut novella, Looking for Cornelius, was published fall 2025 by Wipf & Stock/Resource Publications. She launched Raven Chapbooks in 2020 and publishes small edition poetry chapbooks featuring B.C. poets. Poet's Website: DianaHayes.ca