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selected publications

I write poetry when a moment in the ordinary flow of moments startles with flashpoint intensity. I try to absorb the uncanny heat that lingers in the aftermath, even as it rises above me.

Then the work begins: recall the particulars of the moment with the candour of the heart before the rigour of the mind; watch them spin themselves into possibilities, sometimes beyond my bravest imaginings; gather the shiniest and the scariest details together (they’ll be the same ones); and arrange them to mirror the original moment.

I always fail: I end with a stained-glass window, fragmented, refracting, sometimes radiant.

BEST CANADIAN POETRY 2023

The poem “He Thinks It’s Their Last Book” appears in Best Canadian Poetry 2023. 

Launch details here.

PRAIRIE FIRE

“The Egtved Girl” appeared in Prairie Fire. It also appears in the collection Tilling the Darkness, forthcoming in February 2023.

ARC POETRY MAGAZINE

“Traces” 

Shortlisted for Arc’s Poem of the Year

LITERARY REVIEW OF CANADA

July–August 2017, “Advice to a Poet” 

WORDWORDS “Fragile Vessel”

Runner-up in BC’s Literary Writes annual contest

THE MALAHAT REVIEW

A review of Esi Edugyan’s Half-Blood Blues for Issue 178, 2018.

Susan Braley

Susan Braley’s poetry collection Tilling the Darkness, launched February 2023 (Caitlin Press). Her poetry is  included in Best Canadian Poetry 2023 and was nominated for the 2022 National Magazine Prize. Her poems have appeared in literary journals and magazines across Canada.

 

She lives on the traditional territory of the Coast and Straits Salish Peoples, in particular the lək̓ʷəŋən People, known today as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.

Quick Links
Books

Tilling the Darkness,
Caitlin Press 2023

© 2023 Susan Braley

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