Westerly News Long time Tofitian Christine Lowther is set to embark on a cross-Island tour to promote her new book: 'Born Out of This.' "After three poetry collections plus two anthologies of seventy writers all together, this is a prose collection of my own," she told the Westerly. "I'm chuffed to have some of my nature photography in it as well.
" She describes 'Born Out of This' as a "mixture of memoir, nature writing, humour, travel, punk and activism.
" 'Born Out of This' covers intimate details of Lowther's life, including the loss of her mother, but she said she did not fear diving in to share her story. "Memoirs are personal. There is no escaping that. I've written and had published excruciatingly personal stuff before. It seems to be something I simply have to do and I think it's healthy to express pain and even make art out of it," she said. Lowther has lived on the West Coast for over 20 years having arrived from the mainland in 1992. "I came here to join the logging blockades," she said. "I stay here because this is one of the most fantastic and rare places on Earth. I am very lucky to dwell in Tlao- qui-aht traditional territory. I named my floathouse Gratitude Float and from it I have watched bears, wolves and one cougar. The water is clean; the air is clean; the sky and the land are intoxicating. And it's a big scary world out there.
" She said her natural surroundings have allowed her writing to evolve over time. "My love for this place had to be born and grow, and it has deepened; hopefully the expression of it has as well," she said. She encourages others to write as long as they're not in it for the money and are "willing to read copiously first.
" She hopes the experience readers' get from reading her book is similar to her own experiences with reading. "That they will have fun, feel and share the love of nature and place, get that emotional connection, consider how they feel and think about the issues themselves, and be inspired. Maybe even like the pictures," she said. 'Born Out of This' was published by Caitlin Press. "They rock because they have always been a feminist press which publishes both women and men, with loads of fascinating historical titles," Lowther said. "Their staff is driven, and Jane Silcott was hired as my deeply patient editor.
" Anyone wanting to hear more about Lowther's work is encouraged to attend two upcoming readings in Tofino and Ucluelet. Tofino's Ice House oyster bar will host a reading event featuring Lowther on Oct. 20 and on Oct. 23 she will read at Ucluelet's Blackberry Cove, along with Joanna Streetly, who will read from her new book of Haiku entitled This Dark. Lowther's West Coast readings will kick off an extensive book tour. "I am grateful to have a book tour about to start, but as a hermit, I am also nervous," she said. She is also scheduled to have her work published in an anthology next year. "In 2015 I'll be in a book with my mother for the first time in my life," she said "David Eso is editing an anthology of love letters and poems by Canadian poets. The subject matter was a stretch for me. But now I am in a sense reunited with my mum. I lost her nearly forty years ago.
" reporter@westerlynews.ca