Driven

Betsy Struthers, a poet, novelist and critic, and former president of the League of Canadian Poets, has written eight books. Driven, her fifth book of poetry, is about being "driven" from one place - physical and metaphorical - to another. It is a book about duality, the being-in-between generations. In the first part, she writes about her father's death and a son's coming of age, with the speaker in the middle of her own life story, caught between what is ripening and what is passing away. In the second part, Struthers writes about "body and soul," and searching for answers in runes and cards. The language has a lyrical simplicity, but at an emotional level that is powerful and touching. Struthers has been a runner-up for the Milton Acorn People's Poetry Award. She also was short listed for the Arthur Ellis Best First Novel Award. Her work has been praised for its narrative clarity, distinctive voice, and erotic play of language.