Sarah de Leeuw ’ s debut collection of poems , Geographies of a Lover is a book-length prose-poem that cunningly intertwines human sexuality and the Canadian landscape . Poet Nancy Holmes calls it a “ true eco-erotic text that fuses the lonel y carnality of the body with the vulnerable vastness of continental landscapes .” The book grew out of de Leeuw ’ s graduate training as a geographer and her preoccupations with landscapes , feminist politics and literary expression . Her highl y original book is currently shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Award that recognizes the best book of poetry published by a BC writer in 2012 . De Leeuw grew up in Port Clements and Terrace and currently lives in Prince George where she teaches at UNBC ’ s Faculty of Medicine . Last week , the we had a con versation about her book . This is some of what she had to say .
ECO-EROTIC POETIC POLITICS Sarah de Leeuw ’ s Geographies of a Lover
by Emily McGiffin
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Sarah de Leeuw ’ s debut collection of poems , Geographies of a Lover is a book-length prose-poem that cunningly intertwines human sexuality and the Canadian landscape . Poet Nancy Holmes calls it a “ true eco-erotic text that fuses the lonel y carnality of the body with the vulnerable vastness of continental landscapes .” The book grew out of de Leeuw ’ s graduate training as a geographer and her preoccupations with landscapes , feminist politics and literary expression . Her highl y original book is currently shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Award that recognizes the best book of poetry published by a BC writer in 2012 . De Leeuw grew up in Port Clements and Terrace and currently lives in Prince George where she teaches at UNBC ’ s Faculty of Medicine . Last week , the we had a con versation about her book . This is some of what she had to say .
EM : Congratulations on your nomination for a BC Book Prize . That ’ s a fantastic accomplishment .
SdL : Thank you , I ’ m really honoured . Northern British Columbia has a vibrant writing community and I feel very honoured to join suc h remarkable company as Ken Belford , Barry McKinnon and Gillian Wigmore — all of whom ha ve either w on or been nominated for the Dorothy Livesay award .
Overall , I ’ ve had incredibly positive uptake of the book . There ’ s a sense that maybe the time has come to write something deepl y sexual tha t simultaneously contemplates physical ecological geographies . In these early decades of the 21st centur y we are at a crossroads where human beings ha ve to under stand that the v ery planet that is us , which we are , is sitting with the potential of being lost . That should give us pause . It should demand of us that we think about ne w modes of expression . There ’ s something breathless , something embodied about that potential loss and I ’ ve chosen to express that through a particular language construction .
EM : Tell us mor e about the political stance underlying your work .
SdL : I orient to the world as a f airly political human . I ’ ve been very actively involved for decades in what can broadly be conceptualized as feminist g rassroots movements . I used to coordinate a women ’ s centre , I ’ ve worked in aspects of the Kingston Prison for Women , I continue to work with the Elizabeth Fr y Society here in Prince George and I ’ ve been a counsellor around domestic violence for years . I take very seriously the realities of violence , particularly against First Nations women and especially in northern British Columbia .
I believe very strongly that as writers we need to do work that somehow expands spaces for other v oices . One of the things that , for a number of years , has caused me to at least scratch my head , is what I perceive to be a remarkable lack of literar y space — particularly in Canada — for an expressly muscular , raw voice of women ’ s sexuality . That has a lot of theoretical implications . I think that if as women we are unable to write and see ourselves represented in muscular , bold , sexual prose and poetry , we are always at risk of having a very important aspect