Poems by Daniela Elza
Introduction by Aislinn Hunter
March 2012/ Poetry/ $19.95 CDN
ISBN 978-1-896949-21-5/Trade Paper/ 112 pp
“a rare combination of analytical precision, presentation, and lyricism“- Sarah Munroe
“There is a sweet music and the sensuality of careful attention in Daniela Elza’s work, the sort of things by which the world recovers its proper gravity.” -Tim Lilburn
“These poems are like the sculpted mindscapes of the Zen garden: evocative, resonant, and serene. They are also delightfully complex, as if the poet with the rake has a sense of humour, is part Zen master, part Trickster, demonstrating with a wink how the wondrously simple and the eminently elaborate reside inside each other.“-Aislinn Hunter
“When first opening Daniela’s new book of poems, all the longings rush in–to reconsider the examined life; to race the moon; or other inexplicables; to be changed–one is grateful for the ephemeral that barely touches the page, but marks transformation, as in the weight of dew. This critical, respectful dialogue with other esteemed poetics, philosophies and voices, transverses: spaces–the breath, with sheer intelligences–and luminates. For a moment one is stilled to listen, to contemplate, to absorb the fearless precision in these poems, the clarity of acknowledgement and humility. The unflinching preciousness in language and experience–refreshingly without cynicism, affirming the consciously alive and the beloved dead. This collection stirs the heart and mind. It not only serves, satisfies, satiates– best of all–it beautifully challenges. Give this to a friend…”-Cathy Ford
excerpt from the poem the weight of dew
to know what knowing looks like
before it is disturbed.
stepped on. sanitized.
poked with a stick.
put in a vial.
In the weight of dew, Daniela Elza’s remarkably elegant debut book of poetry, we are taken on a literal, metaphorical and philosophical journey from the city, inland through ( mostly) British Columbia. In the miles and meditations Elza’s poems travel light, with the ‘shape of me nameless’. the weight of dew settles around us, after the long journey of contemplation. These poems are delicate, condensed, crystallized, yet paradoxically spacious, not only visually but philosophically. They gently ask questions about our existence. Use language to investigate belief. Use metaphor to awaken consciousness. Beautifully transforming us through the alphabet of her knowing.
Author Daniela Elza was born in Bulgaria, and grew up in Nigeria. After earning her Masters in English Philology from Sofia University, she lived in England for a year. She then acquired her second Masters (in Linguistics) at Ohio University (USA). In 1999 she immigrated to Canada and has since lived in Vancouver with her husband and their two children. Daniela’s poetry has been published in many periodicals and anthologies, including Rocksalt: An Anthology of Contemporary BC Poetry and 4 poets ( Mother Tongue Publishing). In 2011 Daniela received her doctorate in Philosophy of Education from SFU and launched her first eBook, The Book of It. She is currently the Vancouver regional editor for the Pacific Poetry Project: An anthology of three cities (Portland, Seattle and Vancouver) forthcoming from Ooligan Press (US) in the Fall of 2012. She is also the Vancouver/Lower Mainland Rep. for the Federation of BC Writers, a member of The League of Canadian Poets and The Writers Union of Canada. In 2010 Daniela was the recipient of Pandora’s Collective Citizenship Award.
Aislinn Hunter is the author of five books in four genres. She holds degrees in the history of art, creative writing and writing and cultural politics and is currently completing a PhD on resonance and thing theory at The University of Edinburgh. Her last book was A Peepshow with Views of the Interior: Paratexts (Palimpsest Press). Aislinn has been short-listed for several literary awards and has won the Gerald Lampert Award for Poetry. She lives (most of the time) in Vancouver, B.C.
“In Daniela Elza’s poems, we watch words pull apart–literally to give us the visceral innuendo of spoken language collapsing, surging, the inherent space within metaphor, no matter how small.”-Clarise Foster CV2 -
“Elza has a stunning skill for crisp renderings of fleeting moments powerfully imbued with spiritual resonance.”-Sean Arthur Joyce, from 4 poets (Mother Tongue Publishing)
