
Field Guide to the Lost Flower of Crete
Eleonore Schoenmaier(Author)
McGill-Queen's University Press
Published on 1. June 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
152 pages
978-0-2280-0581-0 (ISBN)
Description
Thyme clings, high / and away from the grazing and scents / the air.
Island reality is interconnected with live-retrieved memories in which a nurse follows a violent patient into the northern Canadian bush, a migrant mother faces her new job as the village butcher, an Ojibway man is forced to walk a dangerous route home alone, teenagers loot the local dump to build their mother's wheelchair, and an electrician watches a woman play a grand piano on a ballfield.
A (re)creation of the surreality and altered time within deep states of grieving, Field Guide to the Lost Flower of Crete juxtaposes sorrow with fragmentary unapologetic joy. Eleonore Schoenmaier forges compelling symphonic resonances between European musical encounters and a northern working-class childhood. By centring her experiential empathy on a history of racism and poverty, she guides us into better ways of being. Intimate reflections are contrasted with geopolitical and environmental concerns as Schoenmaier's fierce intelligence focuses on what is most essential in our lives.
The arc of this collection offers a rejuvenating meditation on the meaning of loss and love, highlighted by the lyric beauty of the writing.
Island reality is interconnected with live-retrieved memories in which a nurse follows a violent patient into the northern Canadian bush, a migrant mother faces her new job as the village butcher, an Ojibway man is forced to walk a dangerous route home alone, teenagers loot the local dump to build their mother's wheelchair, and an electrician watches a woman play a grand piano on a ballfield.
A (re)creation of the surreality and altered time within deep states of grieving, Field Guide to the Lost Flower of Crete juxtaposes sorrow with fragmentary unapologetic joy. Eleonore Schoenmaier forges compelling symphonic resonances between European musical encounters and a northern working-class childhood. By centring her experiential empathy on a history of racism and poverty, she guides us into better ways of being. Intimate reflections are contrasted with geopolitical and environmental concerns as Schoenmaier's fierce intelligence focuses on what is most essential in our lives.
The arc of this collection offers a rejuvenating meditation on the meaning of loss and love, highlighted by the lyric beauty of the writing.
Reviews / Votes
"These are understated poems grounded in imagism, snapshots of a life, where the poet speaks quietly to her reader with precision and insight." Armand Garnet Ruffo, author of Treaty#"Spanning continents and decades, the poems in Field Guide to the Lost Flower of Crete bear witness to beauty, pain, and injustice alike. Meditative and musical, Schoenmaier's verse renders the world in vivid, attentive language." Annick MacAskill, author of Murmurations
"Eleonore Schoenmaier's poems are profoundly lyrical. Their words come from a brave and tender witness, and in their white spaces is the sound of an orchestra playing by the sea." Sadiqa de Meijer, author of The Outer Wards
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Montreal
Canada
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 185 mm
Width: 124 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
136 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-2280-0581-0 (9780228005810)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Eleonore Schoenmaier
Field Guide to the Lost Flower of Crete
E-Book
06/2021
1st Edition
McGill-Queen's University Press
€19.49
Available for download

Eleonore Schoenmaier
Field Guide to the Lost Flower of Crete
E-Book
06/2021
1st Edition
McGill-Queen's University Press
€19.49
Available for download
Person
Eleonore Schoenmaier is the award-winning author of Dust Blown Side of the Journey and Wavelengths of Your Song. She divides her time between Canada and Europe.