**Winner of the Acorn-Plantos Award**
**Winner of the Hamilton Literary Award, Poetry**
In sure and tender poetry, Chris Pannell looks into the rearview mirror of his bus – and his life – to celebrate the humanity of his passengers, and himself. From speaking with kidney dialysis patients, to driving sleeping teenagers home, Pannell's poems engage the reader with his empathic view of our world in elegantly constructed verse.
Reviews
Review (Marc Thackray, Journal of Canadian Poetry vol. 26, 1/8/2011)
“In these poems, Pannell as driver witnesses the struggles of his passenger’s quiet lives and tries to adjust the mechanisms that leave them vulnerable, dislocated from company, desperate and alone…The youthful, aged and ill travellers need their poet, and Pannell takes on this role."
Arts magazine a visual, word-worthy treat (Jeff Mahoney, The Hamilton Spectator, 7/15/2009)
“There are beautifully rendered stories of the passengers he drives, often interwoven with other observations, some of the very casual, minute and fleeting but leading in their meandering way to thoughts on larger themes.”
Lit Review - Drive by Chris Pannell (Jessica Rose, H Magazine, 1/5/2009)
"Readers can’t help but fall in love with the people Pannell observes along his various routes."
Awards
People's Poet (2010)
Poetry Book Award, Hamilton Literary Award (2010)
Other Titles by Chris Pannell
A Nervous City (2013)
Downloads
Download a pdf excerpt of the collection here.
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