49th Parallel Psalm

Wayde Compton's first poetry book: a stunning set of poems documenting the migration of blacks to Canada, specifically when the first black settlers—facing an increasingly hostile racist government—left San Francisco and travelled north to British Columbia beginning in 1858.

With recurring themes of the unknowable, the crossroads, the trickster, and entropy, 49th Parallel Psalm jumbles history, time, and the Canadian black literary canon.

It's about the endless arrival.

Shortlisted for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize

Now in its 2nd printing.