Where the Sea Kuniks the Land

"Ashley Qilavaq-Savard is writing poetry that should be written, must be written"—The Fiddlhead

"This collection widens the horizon and expands the world, transporting to places foreign, inhabiting its full complexity—to feel it deep within you, its joys, sorrows, and beauty. With a voice of sheer authenticity, the poet is clear-eyed sincere. She invites you to dance with her as the wind and snow dance in a blizzard, to feel the warm Arctic summer sun, to see her world through the eyes of her grandmother and great grandmother. The blue of her world, the sky and the ice and the sea will become yours."—The Eric Hoffer Award

Within this collection of poetry, Ashley Qilavaq- Savard affectionately shares her love and connections to the land and waters. Kuniks are Inuit greetings that involve the placing of one’s nose on another’s cheek and then breathing them in. Qilavaq-Savard expresses through her poetic voice and mastery of metaphor and symbolism the way this breathing in of a loved one can not only be between people, but between oneself and all things, and between all things. This collection contains connections to land, culture, identity, colonization, trauma, grief, resiliency, and growth. The author takes the reader mentally, emotionally, and spiritually through the seasons within the Arctic land and water that she holds dear to her heart.

* Books BC - Indigenous Books for Schoo