A review by careinthelibrary
Poemw by Anne Fleming

4.0

Anne Fleming's Poemw is a collection of poem(w)s that speak to Canadian identity, gender identity, the small things in life (like dead raccoons), and the beauty of nature.
Divided into sections, the first being ruminations on life and death through encounters with animals; the second section contains poignant and bold auto-biographical works about growing up in Ontario and struggling with gender expression and performance; the third part is a narrative-style homage to a Canadian woman Isabelle Gunn who dressed as a man to work for the Hudson's Bay Company in the early 1800s told through asking questions; the final part holds quirky poems with titles taken from articles on academia.edu.
There were poems in every section that stood out to me as being winners, making this worth a purchase for me. I love the humour that often hops the fence of tragedy. The clear, simple, sparse lines that trundle into complex, heartfelt, meaningful lines. I don't read a lot of poetry, but this book stands out as a new favourite, and I am lucky enough to have been taught by Anne at UBCO, an honour and a privilege for an amateur writer like myself. Fleming is undoubtedly talented and this new book has inspired me to pick up more Canadian poetry.