Isn’t naming great. Why don’t we call the homeland of the Wanapum, the “Wana” “Pu’um”, the water people, a river, and be done with it. But there’s a catch to this, because […]
Flowing in Place
The Great Run That Needs No Other Name
Welcome to the great run of the West. This band of energy that is materialized here as water descends in a lost mid-Pacific rift zone of such power that 10,000 kilometres of […]
Dandelion Swan Song
Aren’t the orchards pretty in the springtime, with their quaint tractor wobble reminiscent of human fragility and everything? You, too, can achieve this effect on your own yard. These babies will […]
Mourning Cloak Lays Her Eggs
Who said Chinese elms have no place here, eh. It wouldn’t be spring without the mourning cloaks! In the Similkameen they are deep purple, the colour of spring catkins. Here in the […]
Review of Wong and Wah’s Beholden: a poem as long as a river
Let’s talk about poetry … or, rather, let’s behold some creative writing … …in place: Cougar Point, Cascadia Creative writing is a cultural practice, engaged in by a group of practitioners […]
Human Cartography
Because the mountains recede in waves… … in the Similkameen… … when they don’t, they stand out, even when they are within this language of bodies. Note the cultural markings on this […]
Every Sentence is a Map of the World
The plum in blossom… … becomes music in the wind. The Síya? in blossom … … is the music of bushes cast across a scree slope. West of Olalla The break in […]
The Role of a Post Colonial Literature in Canada
It is possible to have a stream that is dry, that is nonetheless still a stream. The land teaches that. It teaches that “streaming” is not a function of water but that, […]
The Earth is Our Teacher, But What Does She Teach?
In school we were taught that a teacher was someone who showed us how things are in the world. Really, it was someone who gave us letters and a means of turning […]
They Call it a King Bloom…Huh.
Given that it’s mostly female, maybe “queen” would be better? Apple Blossoms in Keremeos (12 hours before the snow) Life is risk. It is these first, strong, dominant blooms that commercial orchards […]
Okanagan Okanogan 