Big Breath of a Wish

By: Richard Harrison

January 1998
82 pages | ISBN 0-919897-62-2
$15.00

**Nominated for the Governor General's Award for Poetry**
**Winner of the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Book Prize**

Richard Harrison's fourth book, Big Breath of a Wish, delves deeply into the linguistic discoveries children make in their first two years of life. It uniquely opens up these discoveries to readers, who identify both with the child and the parents and, through Harrison's clear, suggestive language, rediscover themselves.

"These are spells of the vocal body. John Cage, John Lennon, whale song and Derrida intertwine in this collage of sound moments from the first year of life. Fall under the spell of this quirky generous vision that links the urge to speak with the urge to know, to be known, and to love. Harrison is simply one of the best poets, male or female, to open up his art to the passions of parenthood." - Nadine McInnis

Reviews

• Family Albums, Poetic Genealogies (Kegan Doyle, Canadian Literature, 9/1/2000). "His poems combine an eye for the sensuous detail, an ear for the beauties of noise, and a deft intellect."

Other Titles by Richard Harrison

• Now is the Winter: Thinking about Hockey (2009)
• Worthy of his Fall (2005)
• Hero of the Play: 10th Anniversary Edition (2004)