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Mapping the Chaos
For Tregebov, writing is “mapping”—tracing the outlines of what is there with humor, wonder, bemusement, and great clarity.
96 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2002
4 people want to read
About the author
Rhea Tregebov
31 books45 followersRhea Tregebov is the acclaimed author of eight collections of poetry. Her most recent, Talking to Strangers, won the 2024 Canadian Jewish Literary Award for poetry and was long-listed for the Al Eurithe Purdy Poetry prize. In addition to her poetry, she has published two novels, Rue des Rosiers (2019) and The Knife Sharpener’s Bell (2009). She is also the author of five popular children’s picture books including The Big Storm and What-If Sara, which are set in Winnipeg. She has edited ten anthologies of essays, poetry and fiction, most recently Arguing with the Storm. Her work has received a number of literary prizes, including the Tiny Torgi award (for The Big Storm) as well as the Pat Lowther Award, Prairie Schooner Readers’ Choice Award, and the Malahat Review Long Poem Award for her poetry.
Born in Saskatoon and raised in Winnipeg, Rhea Tregebov received her undergraduate education in Winnipeg. She did postgraduate studies at Cornell and Boston Universities.
For many years she worked as a freelance writer and editor in Toronto, where she also taught creative writing for Ryerson Continuing Education. She was an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, where she taught poetry and translation until her retirement in 2017. She is now an Associate Professor Emerita.
From the Author:
Talking to Strangers is a book of bracing encounters. Throughout her four decades as poet, Rhea Tregebov has displayed an uncommon eye for the mysteries of ordinary life—moments where, as she writes, “[t]he simplest things / elude me.” This gift is brought to brilliant effect in her eighth book of poetry and most charged to date. In gorgeous arias of recollection and evocation, of elegy and heartbreak, Tregebov mourns, praises, prays, regrets, summons, celebrates, and bears witness with formidable artistry and tenderness (“You wouldn’t think the inanimate would get tired /but it does.”) Direct, never forced, keenly observant, and marked by scrupulous craft, these new poems unfold in beguiling, often breathtaking ways. They confirm Tregebov’s place among the most significant poets of her generation.
Born in Saskatoon and raised in Winnipeg, Rhea Tregebov received her undergraduate education in Winnipeg. She did postgraduate studies at Cornell and Boston Universities.
For many years she worked as a freelance writer and editor in Toronto, where she also taught creative writing for Ryerson Continuing Education. She was an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, where she taught poetry and translation until her retirement in 2017. She is now an Associate Professor Emerita.
From the Author:
Talking to Strangers is a book of bracing encounters. Throughout her four decades as poet, Rhea Tregebov has displayed an uncommon eye for the mysteries of ordinary life—moments where, as she writes, “[t]he simplest things / elude me.” This gift is brought to brilliant effect in her eighth book of poetry and most charged to date. In gorgeous arias of recollection and evocation, of elegy and heartbreak, Tregebov mourns, praises, prays, regrets, summons, celebrates, and bears witness with formidable artistry and tenderness (“You wouldn’t think the inanimate would get tired /but it does.”) Direct, never forced, keenly observant, and marked by scrupulous craft, these new poems unfold in beguiling, often breathtaking ways. They confirm Tregebov’s place among the most significant poets of her generation.
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December 13, 2022
This book was amazing from start to finish! I picked it up in a used bookstore, captivated by the title and cover art. Seeing some poems mention Yonge, Spadina, Bathurst, and other Toronto streets made it a must-buy. I was not disappointed. I connected strongly with a lot of the poems; Tregebov’s navigation of the chaos felt eerily similar to mine, despite all of the differences in our lives (she is an older woman with children, for instance, while I’m a childless young-ish man). I can’t wait to get more of her stuff, and will certainly be reading this collection again when I’m older.
Displaying 1 of 1 review