Talking to the Diaspora

  • ISBN-13: 9781894037655
  • PRICE: $16.95
  • Paperback, 120 pages

In a career that has spanned more than a quarter-century, Lee Maracle has earned the reputation as one of Canada’s most ardent and celebrated writers. Talking to the Diaspora, Maracle’s second book of poetry is at once personal and profound. From the revolutionary “Where Is that Odd Dandelion-Looking-Flower” to the tender poem “Salmon Dance,” from the biting “Language” to the elegiac “Boy in the Archives,” these poems embody the fearless passion and spirited wit for which Lee Maracle is beloved and revered.

Lee Maracle

Lee Maracle is the author of a number of critically acclaimed literary works including Sojourner?s and Sundogs, Ravensong, Bobbi Lee: Indian Rebel, Daughters Are Forever, Will?s Garden, Bent Box, I Am Woman, and Celia?s Song. Born in North Vancouver, Maracle is a member of the Sto: Loh nation. She is the mother of four and grandmother of seven. She currently serves as the Traditional Teacher for First Nation?s House and an instructor with the Centre for Indigenous Theatre and Support for Aboriginal Graduate Education (SAGE) at the University of Toronto, as well as writing instructor at the Banff Centre for the Arts. For her work promoting writing among Aboriginal youth, Maracle received the Queen?s Diamond Jubilee Medal and, in 2014, was awarded the Ontario Premier?s Award for Excellence in the Arts.


Lee Maracle is one of our greatest gifts. Always smart, smooth and full of sly smiles, Maracle’s latest, Talking to the Diaspora is a beautiful collection of thoughtful, rhythmic gems. Poetry is so lucky to have her back again. — Katherena Vermette, Governor General Award-winning author of North End Love Songs

There’s an incredible power behind Maracle’s voice, which demands to be heard. — Jonathan Ball, Winnipeg Free Press

Talking to the Diaspora is a full, varied and energetic collection that ranges over a lifetime’s worth of experience and engagement with the world. Here, Lee Maracle generously gives us a vision of the holistic, complex and fluid relationships between her peoples’ history, their traumas, memories, bodies, songs, spirits, dreams and lives. Talking to the Diaspora is a rallying cry from a poet who draws from a “from a pool of ancient meaning” to lead us to regeneration and renewal…these poems are not meant merely to be read, but also to be lived. — Phoebe Wang, The Winnipeg Review