1. A Tea in the Tundra / Nipishapui Nete Mushuat

With this bilingual English-Innu poetry collection, Joséphine Bacon, in her tribute to the Tundra, challenges our traditional notions of Aboriginal culture and perception, northern landscape and the wilderness, the limits of experience, and the riddle of human existence. With a dreamlike blend of feeling and memory, A Tea in the Tundra / Nipishapui Nete Mushuat presents a complex and elusive constellation of possibilities. The author displays a finely wrought sensibility, which does honour to the subtle intricacies of daily life. The French-language edition of this book, Un thé dans la toundra, was a finalist for the 2014 Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry.

2. Homesickness Is a Forgotten Art

Homesickness Is a Forgotten Art is a captivating poetry collection that evokes powerful thoughts on seemingly ordinary human existence. Profound and beautifully enigmatic, the poems recognize the subtle but intricate moments of life that have the power to define us and our perceptions of the world. Through his sublime expression of human passions and contradictions, Joël Pourbaix reveals an innate curiosity about the relationships between the mundane and the sensational. The French-language edition of this book, Le mal du pays est un art oublié, won the 2015 Governor General’s Literary Award.

3. For the Despairing Alone

This poetry collection is a book for those who do not turn a blind eye to the often desperate state of our world. Presented in a formal and artistic way, the poems cultivate hope and bring us back to what is significant and fundamental in our lives. For the Despairing Alone shows us the small glimpses of joy that watch over us and give us hope for the human world. Relating to nature and botany in a creative way, this book reveals to us that even in small things, such as nature, there can be joy in the turmoil-filled world that we live in today. The French-language edition of this book, Pour les désespérés seulement, won the 2013 Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry.

4. Crac

Written by an award-winning author, this poetry collection portrays the relentless force of water as its waves rumble and pulsate through the streets of a small, fearful village. The landscape becomes desolate, the people vanish without a trace, and darkness filled with the unknown covers the streets. The poems in Crac depict supernatural vision, quiet fear, utter fantasies, mysterious haunting, and a sense of metaphysical wonder - all with fascinating surrealism. This poetry collection takes the readers on a fascinating journey through the wonders of poetry filled with unexpected events, revelatory adventures, and perplexing enigmas. With his intricate and distinctive poetic style, Paul Savoie successfully expresses his creative talent and explores a wide range of human feelings, doubts, and perceptions, inviting us into the world of mystery, fantasy, and suspense. The French-language edition of this book won the 2007 Trillium Award for Literature in the French language.